Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “Judgment (Black & Gold)”
Summary
Judgment (Black & Gold) depicts a victorious gold figure standing astride a sprawled corpse, gripping a sword in one hand and a freshly severed head by the hair in the other. Rendered as a flat gold silhouette on a black ground, it is a classic example of Cleon Peterson's pictorial language of execution, dominance and the brutality of power.
Why It Matters
The image distills Peterson's central obsession, the abuse of power and the violence beneath civilization, into a single archetypal act of judgment and execution. The pose, beheading and limp body directly quote ancient decapitation iconography (Perseus, David and Goliath, Greek vase combat), reframing timeless myths of victor and vanquished as a comment on contemporary authority. Stripping color to gold-on-black heightens the heraldic, monumental quality and turns a brutal act into something that reads like a coin, a relic or a cautionary emblem, one of the strongest distillations of his recurring power-and-violence themes.
Collector Perspective
A 2016 screen print in an edition of just 28, hand-signed and numbered in pencil along the lower margin. The tiny edition size puts it well below Peterson's more common 100 to 150-count prints, making it one of his scarcer paper releases. The reduced gold-and-black palette and the stark, single-scene composition give it strong wall presence and broad appeal among collectors drawn to his violence-and-power imagery. As a low-edition work it sits at the more desirable, harder-to-source end of his print market rather than among his open or large-edition pieces.
Historical Context
Made in 2016, during the period when Peterson's reputation was peaking through gallery shows and his ongoing collaborations within the Shepard Fairey and street-art orbit. The mid-2010s saw him refining the flat black/white/red/gold silhouette style and mining classical sources, Greek vase painting, Hogarth and biblical and mythic combat scenes, to address modern themes of authority, conflict and social breakdown. Judgment belongs squarely to this body of work, using a gold-on-black reduction to give a single execution scene the weight of an ancient emblem.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
A triumphant gold figure standing over a dead, sprawled body, holding a sword in one hand and a severed head by the hair in the other, an image of execution, judgment and dominance set against a black ground.
What is the edition size?
The edition is limited to 28 prints.
Is it signed and numbered?
Yes. Like Peterson's other editions, it is hand-signed and numbered in pencil along the lower edge.
What is the medium?
It is a screen print, produced in 2016 in a reduced gold-and-black palette.
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. He draws on classical Greek vase painting, Hogarth and street art, and is a frequent collaborator of 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.