From Bosnian war to his own battle for mental health, Scottish painter Peter Howson on how art became his therapy
- Working as Britain’s official war artist during the Bosnian war led Peter Howson to have a severe mental breakdown. Art became his therapy and saved him
- The current conflict in Ukraine and tensions around the world inspire him to paint, and a collection of his most recent work will soon go on show in Hong Kong
Peter Howson’s paintings are confronting, brutal and violent. But an understanding of the Scottish artist’s past explains a lot about his creative process.
In 1993, aged 35, Howson worked as Britain’s official war artist during the Bosnian war (1992-1995). “Bosnia had a tremendous effect on my life and work. It was frightening – I don’t think I’ll ever get over it completely,” Howson says. He still has nightmares and panic attacks about his time there.
Recalling sitting in a bunker in the Bosnian town of Vitez, Howson says he felt fear, shame and loneliness, which triggered suicidal impulses.
“I had a severe mental breakdown when I returned from that place. A broken man returning to a broken wife and three children. Then I went quite mad and abandoned them … the guilt has never left me.”
From November 18, a new collection of Howson’s works will be shown in “Lacrimae Rerum” at Flowers Gallery, in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is his first solo exhibition in Asia.
The show takes its name from a Latin phrase from Virgil’s epic Latin poem Aeneid which translates as “tears of things”, and addresses themes of crisis, violence, collectivity and technology.
“God and help from AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] kept me strong. And my work is my therapy. If I fall down I must not stay down. I have to pick myself up and fight against the demons inside me.
“When I am working, I am happy and stable. I even feel flashes of joy.”
In 2002, while in a rehab clinic and at his “lowest ebb”, he “had a heavenly vision that gave me a glow of serenity that I had never before experienced”.
Howson, whose works are in collections around the world, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Tate in London, says his love for art started young.
“I did my first war painting when I was four years old. It was of the Battle of Hastings [in 1066]. I had seen the Bayeux Tapestry in a book,” he says, referring to the medieval embroidery depicting the Norman conquest of England. “I became enthralled with the graphic images of warfare.”
The current conflict in Ukraine and tensions all around the world inspire him to paint.
“The subject of war repels and fascinates me. I work 14 hours a day on subjects most people would find horrible,” he says.
But his intentions are good.
“I want to let people see the horrors of war and how deep down we are all capable of evil,” he says. “I always remember that in Bosnia, ordinary law-abiding citizens turned against their neighbours and murdered them.”
“I’m lucky to be alive and have a job I love.”
“Lacrimae Rerum” is at Flowers Gallery, 49 Tung Street, Sheung Wan, from November 18 to January 14. For more information, visit flowersgallery.com.
