Rocco Ritchie is a 26-year-old painter based in London — and, almost incidentally, the son of Madonna and director Guy Ritchie. He began as an artist exhibiting under the pseudonym Rhed, trained at two of London’s best-known art schools, and now shows in London, Miami and Paris under his own name.
Key Takeaways
- Rocco Ritchie was born on August 11, 2000, in Los Angeles — Madonna’s second child and Guy Ritchie’s eldest son.
- He studied at Central Saint Martins and the Royal Drawing School in London; Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon are his key influences.
- For years he exhibited anonymously as “Rhed,” so the work would be judged before the surname; the press identified him in late 2021.
- With two friends, he co-founded the London gallery Maison Rhed, which held its first exhibition in May 2022.
- Solo shows: Lovers and Enemies (London, 2023), Pack a Punch (Miami, 2024) and The Tourist (Paris, 2024); collectors include Stella McCartney and Donatella Versace.
Rocco Ritchie Quick Facts
| Full Name | Rocco John Ritchie |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | August 11, 2000 |
| Age | 26 years old |
| Birthplace | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Parents | Madonna (mother) and Guy Ritchie (father) |
| Profession | Visual artist and painter |
| Artistic Name | Rhed |
| Education | Central Saint Martins and the Royal Drawing School, London |
| Based In | London, England |
| Siblings | Lourdes Leon (half-sister); David Banda, Mercy James, Stella and Estere (mother’s side); Rafael, Levi and Rivka (father’s side) |
A Childhood Split Between New York, Los Angeles and London
Rocco John Ritchie was born in Los Angeles on August 11, 2000; his parents married that December at Skibo Castle in Scotland. Childhood, after that, was a rotation: New York, Los Angeles and London, wherever two busy careers pointed.
He surfaced in his mother’s world early — her 2005 documentary I’m Going to Tell You a Secret, a stint as a young MDNA backup dancer — then walked away from it.
The Custody Fight That Put Him in the Headlines
Madonna and Guy Ritchie divorced in 2008, and Rocco split his time between New York and London. In December 2015, midway through his mother’s Rebel Heart tour, 15-year-old Rocco decided to stay with his father in London — and a family disagreement became one of the most covered custody disputes of the decade. It was settled in September 2016, with Rocco living primarily with his father in England.
Whatever the headlines suggested, the rift healed. Rocco joined Madonna and his siblings for her 65th birthday in Lisbon in 2023, and she has been a proud presence at his exhibitions since.
Rocco Ritchie the Painter: Training in London
Ask Rocco how he ended up painting and the answer is refreshingly un-mystical. “I wasn’t a very academically strong individual, so I pursued the arts,” he told Women’s Wear Daily. “I studied life drawing and that gave me more of a draftsman skill.” He trained first at Central Saint Martins, then spent several years at the Royal Drawing School developing that draftsmanship.
The household helped, too: as he told Vogue Hong Kong, neither parent is a painter, but both are artists in their own right, and he grew up surrounded by it. His stated influences are heavyweights of British figurative painting — Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon above all — and his own work keeps returning to the human figure.
Who Is Rhed? The Pseudonym Years
When Rocco began showing work, he signed it Rhed — a name he has admitted he simply liked the sound of. The logic underneath was serious. “I’m proud of who I am and where I’ve come from, but I know people would have judged me aggressively in my early stages if I came out with my name,” he told Artnet. “I wanted to develop technically before showing under my name.” Other famous people’s children face the same calculation — see our profile of Ella Bleu Travolta, another performer building a résumé the slow way.
Under the Rhed name he held solo shows at Tanya Baxter Contemporary in Chelsea, and in 2022 he went further: with two friends he co-founded a gallery of his own, Maison Rhed, which hosted its first exhibition in May 2022, as documented in Say Who’s profile of the artist. The anonymity held a few years — “I tried to go along with it for as long as I could, but word eventually got out,” he told Artnet — and by late 2021 the press had connected Rhed to Rocco Ritchie.
Exhibitions in London, Miami and Paris
Once the secret was out, he leaned into his own name. Lovers and Enemies, his London solo show in the fall of 2023, showed portraits of friends and family, curated by David Dawson, once Lucian Freud’s studio manager. In April 2024 came Pack a Punch, a two-day pop-up in Miami’s Design District — ten expressionist paintings inspired by Muay Thai fighters, with Madonna and his siblings in the room. Artnet News interviewed him on the eve of that show.
Later in 2024, during Paris Art Week, he presented The Tourist — paintings reworking teenage paparazzi photographs of himself, turning the intrusion that defined his adolescence into raw material. His latest show is Talk Is Cheap in Soho. By 26, the résumé reads London, Miami, Paris — the long way round.
Family: Two Famous Parents and Eight Half-Siblings
Rocco is one of a large, blended family. On his mother’s side, his older half-sister Lourdes Leon has built her own career in modeling and music, alongside David Banda, Mercy James and twins Stella and Estere. On his father’s side come Rafael, Levi and Rivka, Guy Ritchie’s children with Jacqui Ainsley. Rocco supported his father at the London premiere of The Gentlemen in March 2024, and shows up for family occasions on both sides.
Life Away from the Spotlight
For someone raised inside two fame machines, Rocco is strikingly uninterested in being famous: no reality TV, no influencer circuit, few interviews — most tied to exhibitions, not to himself. He is not the only famous son to choose the quiet version of this life; Sparrow Madden has made a similar decision to stay out of the frame. In Rocco’s case, the paintings are the public statement. Everything else is a working artist’s life in London.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Rocco Ritchie?
Rocco Ritchie was born on August 11, 2000, in Los Angeles, so he is 26 years old. He is Madonna’s second child and the eldest of Guy Ritchie’s children.
What does Rocco Ritchie do for a living?
He is a professional painter based in London. He previously exhibited under the pseudonym Rhed and co-founded the gallery Maison Rhed before showing under his own name.
Where did Rocco Ritchie study art?
He studied at Central Saint Martins in London and spent several years developing his drawing at the Royal Drawing School. He cites Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon as major influences.
Why did Rocco Ritchie use the name Rhed?
He wanted his early work judged on its own merit rather than on his parents’ fame. As he told Artnet, he knew people would have “judged me aggressively” at the start, so he developed technically under the pseudonym first.
