Peter Howson

Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, New York;
David Workman Esq.;
Private Collection, Germany

Glasgow, Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, Peter Howson: A Retrospective, 2 July - 5 September 1993, no. 461

Robert Heller, Peter Howson, London, 2003, illustrated pp. 56-7

All three canvases are original. On very close inspection there is some extremely light abrasion to the extremely lower edge of the right hand canvas. On close inspection there is some very light surface dirt in place. Otherwise in good original condition. All unframed.
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'Howson's aggressive, bold style and forceful, exaggerated subject matter had achieved that rare, seductive combination of popularity and artistic excellence.' (Robert Heller, Peter Howson, p. 76). The current work which was painted in 1990, was formerly entitled Stairway to Heaven and the title change may or may not be significant. One interpretation of the subject may be the three stages of life; Infancy, Ego, and Transcendence. Life's journey from adolescence through adulthood and into old age was, at times, not an easy one for Howson and especially in his formative years he was well accustomed to bullying and violence. A similar theme could have emerged following the publication of the best-selling novel of the same title by Corbett H. Thigpen and Hervey M. Cleckley, a true story of a woman's battle with Dissociative Identity Disorder, or Multiple Personality Disorder as it is sometimes known, which may indeed reference Howson's own fight with his personal demons during periods of depression. The scale and triptych format of The Three Faces of Eve is more commonly seen in the old master paintings tradition which adds an additional sense of gravity to the work above and beyond the subject matter and aggressive style in which Howson paints. Howson dynamically combines elements taken from the work of Francisco Goya, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Otto Dix and Stanley Spencer in an image which is powerful in the extreme. In striking contrast to his contemporary Jack Vettriano, Howson and other members of the New Glasgow Boys set out to make social statements in their art and to paint the power of brutality and reality in a way which achieves the great impact and enduring pathos evident in The Three Faces of Eve.