Peter Howson - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Peter Howson OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

(born 1958) is a Scottish

Scottish people

The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

painter. He was an official war artist in the 1993 Bosnian Civil War.

Peter Howson was born in London and moved with his family to Prestwick, Ayrshire, when Howson was aged four. He spent a short time as an infantry soldier in the Royal Highland Fusiliers

Royal Highland Fusiliers

The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland....

but left to study at the Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...

in 1979 where he worked alongside contemporaries such as Adrian Wiszniewski, Steven Campbell

Steven Campbell (artist)

Steven Campbell was a painter from Scotland. He died in 2007.-Biography:Campbell was born in Glasgow and worked as an engineer before studying at Glasgow School of Art as a mature student, from 1978 to 1982...

and Ken Currie

Ken Currie

Ken Currie is a Scottish painter, one of the most influential living artists in Scotland. His paintings are displayed in public and museum collections worldwide....

, who also worked in figurative art.

His work has encompassed a number of themes. His early works are typified by very masculine working class men, most famously in The Heroic Dosser (1987). Later he was the official war artist for the Bosnian civil war in 1993. Here he produced some of his most shocking and controversial work detailing the atrocities which were taking place at the time. One painting in particular Croatian and Muslim, detailing a rape created controversy partly because of its explicit subject matter but also because Howson had painted it from the accounts of its victims rather than witnessing it firsthand. Much of his work cast stereotypes on the lower social groups; he portrayed brawls including drunken, even physically deformed men and women.

In recent years his work has exhibited a strong religious theme which some say is linked to the treatment of his alcoholism

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

and drug addiction at the Castle Craig Hospital

Castle Craig Hospital

Castle Craig Hospital is a residential hospital located in the Scottish Borders south of Edinburgh. It is the largest addiction treatment hospital in the UK and since its founding in 1988 it has treated over 10,000 patients...

in Peebles

Peebles

Peebles is a burgh in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders, lying on the River Tweed. According to the 2001 Census, the population was 8,159.-History:...

in 2000, after which he converted to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. Howson also has Asperger syndrome

Asperger syndrome

Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...

.

His work has appeared in other media, with his widest exposure arguably for a British postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

he did in 1998 to celebrate engineering achievements for the millennium

Millennium

A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....

. In addition his work has been used on album covers by Live

Live (band)

Live is an American rock band from York, Pennsylvania, composed of Chad Taylor , Patrick Dahlheimer , and Chad Gracey . Lead singer and principal songwriter Ed Kowalczyk left the band in November 2009....

(Throwing Copper

Throwing Copper

-Outtakes and B-sides:*"Hold Me Up"*"Susquehanna"*"We Deal in Dreams" -Album:-End-of-decade charts:-Singles:-Personnel:*Ed Kowalczyk: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar*Chad Taylor: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocal...

), The Beautiful South

The Beautiful South

The Beautiful South were an English alternative rock group formed at the end of the 1980s by two former members of Hull group The Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway. The duo were initially joined by Sean Welch , Dave Stead and Dave Rotheray , all of whom stayed with the group throughout...

(Quench

Quench (album)

Quench released in the UK in October 1998 is The Beautiful South's sixth original album. Including the compilation Carry On Up The Charts it was the band's third album in a row to reach the top of the charts....

) and Jackie Leven

Jackie Leven

Jackie Leven was a Scottish songwriter and folk musician. After starting his career as a folk musician in the late 1960s, he first found success with new wave band Doll by Doll...

(Fairytales for Hardmen).

His work is exhibited in many major collections and is in the private collection of celebrities such as David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger

Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....

and Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

who inspired a number of paintings in 2002.

Howson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours. In November 2010 BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...

aired a documentary named "The Madness of Peter Howson" which followed the final stages of the completion of a grand commission for show in the renovated St Andrew's Cathedral and also dealt with Howson's struggle against bouts of insanity.

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