Peter Howson OBE

(British, born 1958)

Totem

Footnotes

Provenance
With Flowers Gallery, London.
Private collection, UK (acquired from the above in 1992).

Exhibited
Glasgow, McLellan Galleries, Peter Howson: A Retrospective, July - September 1993.


The present lot is an important example of Peter Howson's work from this period in the early 90s. Painted a year before he took up the role of official war artist for the Bosnian War in 1993, the subject highlights his recurring theme of working class men. The men, wearing what look to be military khakis and armed with a baton, appear menacing and poised for a conflict despite the contrast of the white flag being held in the upper right of the composition. The title of the work, Totem, perhaps simultaneously acknowledges the upright composition of the group, but also the symbolism, incorrect or otherwise, assumed by the public perception of working class men. Executed on a large scale, he has applied the paint with impressively bold and direct brushwork - this handling helps to charge the work with a sense of vigorous movement and energy.

Howson's tutor at the Glasgow School of Art, Sandy Moffat, described the qualities of his student's work best:

'Peter Howson also identifies with the 'radical imagination', although his work has little to do with ideological concepts. He is pre-occupied with themes and motifs which reflect his perception of urban life, the kinds of people who live, work and play in the City... his touch remains powerful and dramatic; as in his low-life scenes of prostitutes, thieves and dance hall fights...'
'It is exactly his ability to capture the menacing tone, to penetrate the darker heart of urban humanity, which raises Howson's painting from the ordinary passionless naturalism of academic realists to an entirely different level of creative achievement.'
(S. Moffat, New Image Glasgow, exhibition catalogue, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, 1985)

Presently, in 2023, Howson is the subject of a major retrospective at the Edinburgh City Art Centre titled When the Apple Ripens: Peter Howson at 65.

Howson's work can be found in collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Tate Gallery, London; the British Museum, London; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow; and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh.