This is a drawing by Glasgow artist Peter Howson .The drawing is titled "Jesus is taken down from the cross" and was shown as part of an exhibition in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral,Glasgow in 2004 as part of an exhibition themed"Presence"where installations and interventions were exhibited by six Glasgow artists.
The drawing is 22x21 cm ,pencil on board (2003) and is now part of a private collection .Howson is renowned for revisiting great themes of western art .This drawing I found to be very inspiring and moving .His style within this drawing has a softer element to it. Where normally the brutality and anger is immediate in his work ,this drawing has a different language,it is contemporary but has a timeless quality to it .
It seems to me that he has borrowed ideas from the artists from the Northern Renaissance.When looking further at the drawing we see there is a duality within it ,there is the traditional image of Christ and the figures surrounding him,which we are accustomed to.However,the faces ,the clothes (hats in particular) and the materials used to withdraw the nails from his feet are all undoubtedly from the present day .Having looked closely at Howsons work i have also noticed that the overall majority of his figures face to the left or forward ,very rarely do you see a head or body facing to the right
It seems to me that he has borrowed ideas from the artists from the Northern Renaissance.When looking further at the drawing we see there is a duality within it ,there is the traditional image of Christ and the figures surrounding him,which we are accustomed to.However,the faces ,the clothes (hats in particular) and the materials used to withdraw the nails from his feet are all undoubtedly from the present day .Having looked closely at Howsons work i have also noticed that the overall majority of his figures face to the left or forward ,very rarely do you see a head or body facing to the right
1 comment:
This image leapt out at me because it looked both new and familiar: of course it is like Northern renaissance images -I think you saw the Roger van der Weyeden deposition in Madrid -and also like Max Beckmann with his depositions c.1917 or The Night 1918/9. It's gentler than both these artists, though, more consoling I think. Part of this is because the viewpoint is more diffuse and more general, perhaps? Beckmann began to generate a separate space and perspective viewpoint for every person or object which is very mesmerising and also unsettling at the same time
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