Artist research: Peter Doig

Updated on 19 March 2017 (Harvard referencing).

21 October 2016. I have seen the magical figurative paintings by Peter Doig (*1959, UK) many times before. Most of Doig’s works are weirdly out-of-place landscapes and inhabitants at various degrees of abstraction, with outstanding technical originality and investigativeness. One subject appears to return, that of quiet waters, as e.g. in “Echo Lake” (Doig, 1998), “White Canoe” (Doig, 1990/1991) or as in a number of examples from his exhibition on the Tate Gallery’s website (Tate, 2008).
Peter Doig was Turner Prize nominee in 1994, 10 years into the prize. His associated work “Ski Jacket” (Doig, 1994) I found very pleasing to look at, somewhat Japanese in style but in a strange way both realistic, depicting a great number of beginner skiers in a winter mountain environment, and abstract in its texture and composition. It almost feels like a textile collage.
2 November 2016.  Since Doig produces some incredibly intricate and detailed patterns with a large variety even within the same painting, I found that the available resolutions make viewing his work on the computer inadequate and a bit frustrating. Nevertheless, the important lesson to learn here is something I increasingly feel with my own paintings: If the subject is allowed to guide the brushstroke, the results are absolutely authentical (if you know what to do, that is) and it is essential to never stop feeling this connection while working. I will keep returning to Doig’s world to remind myself whenever the tentacles of Everyday creep in again.

References:

Doig. P. (1990/1991) White Canoe [oil on canvas] [online]. Saatchi Gallery, London. Available at: http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/artpages/peter_doig_4.htm [Accessed 21 October 2016]

Doig, P. (1994) Ski Jacket [oil on two canvases] [online]. Tate, London. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/doig-ski-jacket-t06962 [Accessed 21 October 2016]

Doig, P. (1998) Echo Lake [oil on canvas] [online]. Tate, London. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/doig-echo-lake-t07467 [Accessed 21 October 2016]

Tate (2008) Tate Britain Exhibition: Peter Doig. 5 February – 11 May 2008 [image collection] [online]. Tate, London. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/peter-doig [Accessed 21 October 2016]

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