HENRIK LARSSON:

IT'S the way most Celtic fans will remember Henrik Larsson arms in the air as he celebrates one of his 238 goals for the club.

But this special lasting memento is the work of Peter Howson to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity.

Larsson, who played his last competitive game for Celtic against Dunfermline in the Scottish FA Cup Final on May 22, is to put his name alongside Howson's on the 4ft x 3ft oil painting.

It will be auctioned off by Christie's with the funds split between a charity named by Henrik and Howson's The Third Step, which aids recovering alcoholics and drug addicts.

A Howson painting of this size normally fetches around £40,000 but the Peter hopes a big-hearted fan will pay at least double that.

Henrik Larsson will donate half the money from the auction to charities, likely to be associated with children.

Limited edition signed prints are available from Peter's nominated charity at: http://www.thethirdstep.co.uk/

STATIONS OF THE CROSS EXHIBITION:

Peter Howson will be exhibiting at the Flowers East Gallery, London from the 11th April - 11th May '03.

WAR ART:

Here is Peter's take on the current war in Iraq:

 

 

    "I am not very good at making clever statements about war. This drawing
    is the first idea that came into my head. This is the face of the
    monster of War which feeds on human blood. It is death''

MADONNA SOLD:

The squatting Oil of Madonna has finally sold to a collector for a cool £100,000 price tag. THe image of this piece can be seen at the foot of this page.

HOWSON'S LATEST COMMISSION:

- THE QUEEN!

Today Peter Howson revealed his latest commission - The Queen - to celebrate her jubilee this year and, thankfully, she is fully clothed!

The piece is oil, pastel and charcoal and Peter said of it:

"There is nothing funny about it, it's just a tribute, it's an academic portrait really. I decided just to try and capture the humanness of the Queen rather than anything formal.

I decided to do a smiley one because she looks so grim when she isn't smiling, and her jaw drops quite a bit because she is quite jowly now. I don't know anything about her teeth but they are very good."

Howson has not yet decided what to do with the piece. He may donate it to a gallery or offer it up for sale to make money for a charity.

Click on the image for a full size view.

MADONNA NOT UNHAPPY!

In the last few days Madonna has issued a statement to Peter Howson detailing that she likes Peter's work very much and is happy for him to use her image in it.

We will publish Madonna's full statement within the next few days when Peter instructs us to  release it to the general public.

HOWSON UNVEILS

HIS McLAURIN EXHIBITION

- PETER HOWSON 'The Third Step'

Peter Howson today unveiled his exhibition The Third Step  at the McLaurin gallery in Ayr revealing the two Madonna pieces so eagerly sought after by the worlds media.

   This, the main piece (left), depicts Madonna lying in bed next to several biblical symbols. Around the Madonna figure are symbols representing Eve, Salome, Mary, mother of Jesus, Esther the Jewish heroine, and Thaïs the harlot. There is also a small tree of knowledge beside her, and the head of John the Baptist.

The second piece (right) shows Madonna squatting in a graveyard. Peter said of the piece: "It should remind her of her own mortality. She could have just risen from the grave or could be about to return to it."

BOTH PIECES MAY BE CLICKED TO ENLARGE.

Howson, although under pressure at times, coped well with the media circus which arrived to see 'The Madonnas' but was keen to stress that there was more to this exhibition.

He issued this statement to the press: statement.doc

View his television interview here.