Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “The Horseman (White)”
Summary
A monochrome white sculpture depicting an armed rider on a rearing horse swinging a blade down onto a fallen, kneeling nude figure who throws up an arm in defense. The Horseman renders Cleon Peterson's signature flat black-white-red graphic violence in fully three-dimensional, statuette form, translating his painted scenes of conquest and brutality into a desktop-scale object.
Why It Matters
The Horseman is significant as one of Peterson's relatively scarce moves off the wall and into sculpture. It distills the central engine of his entire body of work — the asymmetry between the mounted, weaponized aggressor and the defenseless victim below — into a single, stripped-down object. By rendering it in unrelieved white, Peterson strips away the seductive color of his prints and forces attention onto the violent gesture itself, echoing the equestrian-conqueror monuments and classical statuary he routinely subverts. It is a compact, museum-vitrine-scale statement of his thesis that civilization is built on, and haunted by, the abuse of power.
Collector Perspective
This is a three-dimensional object from a very small edition of 12, which places it among the scarcest tiers of Peterson releases — sculptural editions like this surface far less often than his screen prints and command a premium when they do. Sculptures from an artist primarily known as a printmaker tend to draw a narrower but more committed buyer pool, so liquidity is thinner than for his paper works even though desirability is high. Condition is critical: the white surface shows scuffs, chips, and yellowing readily, and an intact base and blade are essential to value. Provenance and any accompanying certificate or signature matter disproportionately given the tiny run.
Historical Context
Produced in 2015, The Horseman dates to the period when Cleon Peterson's profile was expanding rapidly through his stark paintings and prints of mobs, beatings, and power struggles, alongside high-profile collaborations with Shepard Fairey. The equestrian-attacker motif draws directly on the visual language of triumphal conqueror monuments and classical battle imagery — the same antique sources, from Greek vase painting to public statuary, that inform his End of Empire works — turned against itself to expose violence rather than glorify it. The small-edition sculptural format reflects his ongoing experiments in extending that iconography beyond two dimensions.
FAQ
What does The Horseman depict?
A mounted rider on a rearing horse raising a blade to strike a fallen, kneeling nude figure who lifts an arm to shield himself — a compressed image of armed conquest and one-sided violence, rendered as a freestanding white sculpture.
Is this a print or a sculpture?
It is a three-dimensional sculpture / object, presented in a uniform white finish on an integral oval base, not a flat print on paper.
How large is the edition?
The edition size is 12, making it one of the scarcest formats Peterson has released.
Is it signed and numbered?
Edition details such as signature and numbering are not confirmed in our records; buyers should request documentation of signing, numbering, and any certificate of authenticity given the very small run.
Who is Cleon Peterson?
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is an American artist known for stark, high-contrast scenes of violence, power, and social conflict in a flat black, white, red, and gold palette, drawing on Greek vase painting, Hogarth, and street art, and a frequent collaborator with Shepard Fairey.
Related Works
About the Artist
Cleon Peterson (b. 1973, Seattle) is an American artist known for stark, high-contrast scenes of violence, power and social conflict, rendered in a flat, limited palette of black, white, red and gold. His chaotic compositions of fighting, clubbing and writhing figures expose the abuse of power and the brutality beneath civilization’s surface, drawing on classical Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art. A frequent collaborator with Shepard Fairey, he shows internationally; his prints, sculptures and editions are widely collected in the urban-contemporary market.
Collecting Cleon Peterson at Gauntlet Gallery
Where can I buy authentic Cleon Peterson prints?
Gauntlet Gallery offers an extensive, authenticated inventory of Cleon Peterson prints and contemporary editions, with new drops added regularly. Browse the current collection at gauntlet.gallery.
How does Gauntlet Gallery ensure authenticity?
Gauntlet Gallery is built on curation, authenticity and transparency — every work is vetted and its provenance, edition details and condition are disclosed up front.
Does Gauntlet Gallery add new Cleon Peterson prints?
Yes. New drops are released regularly across Cleon Peterson and other leading artists; see gauntlet.gallery for the latest inventory.