PETER HOWSON O.B.E. (SCOTTISH 1958-) §
DOWN AND OUT - BELOW THE BRIDGE
Estimate: £500 - £800
Auction: 11 February 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
Signed lower right, pastel on brown paper
Dimensions
27.25cm x 19.5cm (10.75in x 7.75in)
Footnote
Peter Howson’s strong, figurative style is inspired by epic history painting, but his depictions of a violent, working-class, predominantly masculine Glasgow subvert the traditional tenets of this genre. His experience in the military and as a bouncer in the dive bars of Glasgow’s city centre allows Howson to lift figures from memory and translate them into exaggerated and overgrown character archetypes, through whom he examines the most toxic aspects of masculinity in order to reveal its ugly, destructive truth. Though the acerbic, grotesque social commentary of Weimar Republic artists like George Grosz and Otto Dix are clear reference points, Howson’s work is in fact brimming with pathos. He allows his characters a tragic heroism, and his message is clear that they are just as much the victims of the violent systems they embody.