Robert Risko

Robert Risko's career as an illustrator was launched in 1978, when Andy Warhol took a liking to his uncanny celebrity portraits.

Following his time at Interview magazine, Risko was tasked, along with Annie Leibovitz and Keith Haring, with re-inventing Vanity Fair’s new look for the magazine’s 1983 re-launch. A contributor ever since, Risko has been instrumental in shaping the magazine’s aesthetic and has been featured in numerous esteemed publications throughout his career.

Robert Risko’s art has been lauded in the pages of many major publications, with the Huffington Post declaring him ‘The world’s greatest celebrity illustrator’, the New York Post stating, ‘Risko is legendary’, and his Vanity Fair colleague Kevin Sessums observing, ‘Risko is keenly witty, colourful, and effortlessly cool.’

Vanity Fair…
‘There is nobody better at celebrity caricature,’ said Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair from 1992 until 2017, and indeed no artist’s style has been more associated with a publication than Risko’s with this iconic magazine. He joined the team in 1983, and is still going: his illustration of the Murdoch family features on the cover of this month’s issue.

The New Yorker…
Robert Risko has provided illustrations for numerous editions of the popular American weekly, with his renderings of figures such as Spike Lee, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, George and Barbara Bush, and Bill and Hilary Clinton featuring both inside and on the cover of the magazine.