Christopher Le Brun (born 1951) studied painting at the Slade and Chelsea Schools of Art. Following his first one-man exhibition at the Nigel Greenwood Gallery in London in 1980, he rapidly established an international reputation exhibiting worldwide in many of the major survey shows of the decade, such as Zeitgeist, Berlin (1982) and Avant-Garde in the Eighties, Los Angeles (1987). In 2005 his work was included in Contemporary Voices at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Le Brun served as a trustee of the Tate Gallery from 1990-1995, of the National Gallery from 1996-2003 and Dulwich Picture Gallery from 2000-2005. In 1996 he was elected to the Royal Academy and he was Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy from 2000-2002. He was an instrumental public figure in his role as President of the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 2011 to 2019. He was awarded a Knighthood for services to the Arts in the 2021 New Year Honours. 

Le Brun's work is in many public collections both in the UK and abroad, including: the Tate, the British Museum, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 2005, a cast of his large bronze sculpture Union – Horse with Two Discs, was installed at the entrance to the Museum of London.