About this artwork

This work is one of a trilogy of paintings influenced by contemporary suffering in war-torn cities, particularly in Eastern Europe. In the background, the Brandenburg Gate and the burning Reichstag can be seen, setting the scene in Berlin. The nightmarish scene is populated by emaciated and bandaged skeletal figures and menacing hooded or masked men. Armed with a variety of weapons they are burning books. Currie’s thinly layered application of paint has created a luminous and ghostly tone to the flesh of the crowd members. The fantastic and grotesque elements of the painting were influenced by Breughel and Bosch.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Ken Currie (born 1960) Scottish
  • title:
    The Troubled City
  • date created:
    1991
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    275.00 x 335.50 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Presented by Stephen Baycroft and Donald Holt 2004
  • accession number:
    GMA 4732
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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Ken Currie

Ken Currie