Peter Clarke (South Africa 1929-2014)
The Scowl

acrylic on board

Artwork date: 1973
Signature details: signed and dated bottom right; inscribed with the title, medium and further inscribed with the artist's name, the title and exhibition title on an Iziko South African National Gallery label and inscribed with the artist's name, the title, medium and dimensions on a SMAC Gallery label on the reverse
Exhibited: SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg, 'HOLDING STILL: Psychology and Portraiture', 14 March to 18 April 2019.
Cité Internationale des Artes, Paris, 'A Portrait of South Africa: George Hallett, Peter Clarke & Gerard Sekoto', 30 October to 27 November 2013.
Exchange Rates*: USD 22 918,70 - 34 378,04
GBP 17 499,27 - 26 248,90
EURO 19 906,24 - 29 859,36

(1)

56 x 43.5 cm; framed size:73 x 60.5 x 3.5 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Cape Town.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Painted in 1973, The Scowl occupies a singular and powerful place within Peter Clarke’s oeuvre. Known primarily for his evocative depictions of Cape communities, coastal and pastoral landscapes, Clarke here turns his gaze inward. Instead of observing others, he makes himself the subject – the metaphorical protagonist. Believed to be his only true portrait, The Scowl stands as a rare and deeply personal statement by an artist otherwise celebrated for his quiet observation of social life in his uniquely stylized drawings and paintings

Created shortly after Clarke’s forced removal from Simon’s Town to Ocean View under apartheid’s Group Areas Act in 1972, the painting stands as a symbolic self-portrait reflecting the artist’s emotional turbulence during this period of personal and social displacement.

Against a vivid pink ground, the angular, cubist-like face – its features fractured and teeth bared – conveys a raw mixture of anger, defiance, and vulnerability. The composition’s sharp geometry and restricted palette reflect Clarke’s modernist sensibility, while its notable expressive brushstrokes and distortion expose an emotional register seldom seen in his art.

In contrast to the quiet dignity, gentle humour and optimism that characterise much of Clarke’s art, this portrait is a startlingly direct confrontation with self and circumstance. The snarling expression becomes both mask and mirror, an emblem of the artist’s inner response to displacement and injustice. Within Clarke’s celebrated body of work, The Scowl endures as a rare, courageous act of introspection: a portrait not merely of likeness, but of profound emotion laid bare.

COLLECTIONS:

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably; the District Six Museum, Cape Town; Durban Art Museum; King George VI Art Gallery, Gqeberha; Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje; Javett Art Centre, Pretoria; Berg en Dal, Holland; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; University of Fort Hare, Alice; University of Stellenbosch and the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town.