Self-Portrait - The Dunce

Details

Peter Howson (b. 1958)
Self-Portrait - The Dunce
signed 'Howson' (lower left)
oil on canvas
60 x 36 in. (152.4 x 91.4 cm.)

Provenance

with Graeme Mundy Gallery, Glasgow, where purchased by the present owner in 1994.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Lot Essay

In correspondence with Graeme Mundy on 12 November 1994 Peter Howson wrote,
'The painting, 'The Dunce', is an expression of my own feelings and the way I saw life in the period just before my first trip to Bosnia.
'Putting paint to canvas is more potent than anything I can physically say or write, but I can say that 'The Dunce' is a self-portrait and reflects my fears and insecurity at that time, while still portraying the strength which was required to see me through the next few months'.

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