Top artists create their vision of Burns for Homecoming show

Published on Tuesday 24 February 2009 21:48

PETER Howson, the Scottish artist renowned for muscular, disturbing pictures ranging from the singer Madonna in the nude to the crucifixion of St Andrew, unveiled his personal take on the classic image of Robert Burns yesterday.

Howson's version of the famous 1787 portrait of Burns by Alexander Nasmyth will feature in an exhibition this spring, where 50 contemporary artists will show work inspired by the Bard's life and verse.

Drawn in crayon on black paper, it took about a week of work, and gives Burns a darker, haunted look compared with the rosy-cheeked original.

"It's just my own take," Howson said yesterday. "I'm not as accomplished as Nasmyth, I'm just trying to do my best."

The Inspired exhibition, which opens in April at Glasgow's Mitchell Library, will feature Howson's pictures of Burns alongside work by Tracey Emin, the Chapman brothers, and other top artists including the Scottish Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordon.

The exhibition is funded by Culture and Sport Glasgow as part of Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrating the 250th anniversary of Burns' birth.

The organisation's chair, Bailie Liz Cameron, predicted it would be "one of the most talked about events" of the year.

Howson moved from England to Ayrshire at the age of five and grew up in the heart of Burns's homeland.

"I know the whole territory pretty well, my mother and father are great Burns fans; my father used to sing Burns," the artist said.

Howson showed several drawings. One shows the poet in a moment of inspiration, others portray him as desolate and despairing, including the moment after his favourite daughter died.

"It might be difficult for people to recognise Burns in some of these things," Howson said. "But the whole exhibition is going to rescue Burns from the shortbread vision we have got at the moment."

Inspired's curator, Sheilagh Tennant, said: "The exhibition is really coming together and I'm excited by the different ways artists have interpreted Burns."