Gauntlet Gallery
What is Cleon Peterson’s piece called “Into The Night”
Summary
Into The Night depicts a black-silhouetted warrior on a rearing horse, club raised mid-swing, trampling a fallen figure who clutches a dagger on the ground — all rendered in flat black against a metallic gold field. It is a signature Cleon Peterson tableau of mounted brutality, drawing directly on Greek vase painting to stage the eternal abuse of power.
Why It Matters
This print distills Peterson's central thesis — that civilization is a thin veneer over predatory violence — into a single, legible image of a horseman beating down a defenseless victim. The black-on-gold palette and red-line ground evoke the iconography of antiquity (Greek black-figure ceramics, classical equestrian conquest scenes), collapsing ancient warfare and contemporary power into one timeless act of domination. The rearing horse and overhead club give the composition the heraldic, almost monumental quality that makes Peterson's work read instantly across a room while carrying real political weight about who holds force and who absorbs it.
Collector Perspective
A 2014 screen print in a very small edition of 17, hand-signed and numbered by the artist (this example numbered in the lower left). The tiny edition size puts it well below Peterson's more common 100–150 print runs, making it one of the scarcer works to surface from this period. The gold-ground format is among the most sought-after in his catalog, and small editions like this trade infrequently; pricing tracks above standard open-palette prints when examples do appear, though thin sales history means valuations rely on comparable gold-leaf and small-edition releases rather than deep liquidity.
Historical Context
Made in 2014, during the period when Peterson's reputation was consolidating around stark black/white/red allegories of social violence and his classical-antiquity vocabulary (the rearing horse, the warrior, the fallen body) was fully formed. This era predates and feeds into his later End of Empire vase and sculpture projects, where the Greek-ceramic reference becomes explicit. The metallic gold ground used here aligns with his more deluxe, limited gold-edition output of the mid-2010s.
FAQ
What does Into The Night depict?
A black-silhouetted warrior astride a rearing horse, swinging a club overhead, trampling a fallen figure who grips a dagger on the ground — a scene of mounted violence and domination set against a flat gold field.
What is the edition size?
It is a limited edition of 17, one of the smaller editions in Cleon Peterson's print catalog.
Is it signed and numbered?
Yes. It is hand-signed by the artist and individually numbered, with the edition number visible in the lower left margin.
What medium and format is it?
A screen print on paper from 2014, printed in black on a metallic gold ground with a red ground line.
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 black, white, red and gold. He draws on 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.