David Benrimon Fine Art Presents Adrien Brody

In 2002, Adrien Brody became the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, at age 29. He's a household name for that role, as Polish pianist and composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, in Roman Polanski's The Pianist. And he has since gone on to star in films such as Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited (2007) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong (2005), and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011). But two years ago, Brody decided it was time to devote himself to a passion he had long neglected: painting.

It happened by chance. A friend of Brody's, a French artist, had promised to paint him a piece. After four years, and a period spent out of touch, they finally settled on a time for the work to be completed. "I built him a large canvas, measured it for the wall," recalls Brody. "And I bought some additional canvases in case he wanted to do some additional work and play around. I thought I might help him. And so while he was painting, I started painting some stuff too." Brody's friend was adamant that the actor had to continue.