)
)
Allegorical portrait by Peter Davis to go on show at Derby Museum & Art Gallery
On show at Derby Museum & Art Gallery from 21st November
2026 to 21st February 2027, this painting explores the concept of vulnerability disguised as
strength and the facades we construct to protect ourselves. The highly detailed artwork is a striking, life-size
portrait of a bare-chested man looking directly at the viewer, his arms folded. The sitter is Brett, the artist’s wife’s nephew,
whom Peter has known since he was eight years old.
Peter explains: “I have been aware of the difficult childhood he had and his subsequent periods in prison. His tattooed skin and the damaged wall behind him, broken and scuffed, act as metaphors for his personal journey. Despite his tough, defensive exterior, he has a vulnerable side. He is now forty years old and trying to turn things around.”
)