PETER HOWSON, O.B.E. | TIGER

Flowers East, London

R. Heller, Peter Howson, London, 2003, illustrated, p.155

Produced following a trip to India, Peter Howson’s Tiger radiates pride, pensiveness, potency. Some suggestion as to the painting’s significance is found in another work of 2000, Hotel Imperial – The Last Tigers: an apocalyptic vision of frenzied animals overwhelmed by grotesque hunters that evokes both colonial oppression and, more broadly, the artist’s battles against addiction. For Howson, the year 2000 was 'probably one of the worst years of my life' (Robert Heller, Peter Howson, 2003). As majestic as it is enigmatic, Tiger is testament not just to his lesser-known talent as an animal painter, but also his extraordinary ability during dark periods to produce works of such power.