Peter Doig is no stranger to most people. The artist, who has been promoted several times by Jay Chou on Instagram, is often associated with blue chips and sky-high prices after "White Canoe" was sold for more than 10 million US dollars in 2007.
Until January 2024, Doig's exhibition "A Century Retrospective" will be available at the Musée d'Orsay, the artist's first solo exhibition in Paris in 15 years.
Modern vs. Postmodern**
Doig concluded his exhibition at London's Courtauld Gallery in May, becoming the museum's first living artist to hold a solo exhibition at the museum since its renovation in 2021. The exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay is more ambitious, expansive and even more unexpected.
Installation view of Peter Doig, Courtauld Gallery, London.
The Century Review consists of two parts, one of which is a selection of Doig's work over a period of two decades in Trinidad. The other part is the curatorial and critique of a selection of works by the Musée d'Orsay, which set a precedent for Doig.
From sculpture to painting, from ancient Greece to the Renaissance, the Musée d'Orsay focuses on the most glorious century of French art history, bringing together countless precious cultural heritages. As a regular visitor and admirer of the Musée d'Orsay's collections, Doig sees a close relationship between his work and the collection: "The study of paintings from the last 150 years has been crucial to the development of my own artistic practice, many of which are preserved at the Musée d'Orsay." ”
Installation view of Peter Doig's "Century Retrospective", Musée d'Orsay.
Trinidad is the largest island in the Caribbean, and Doig moved his family here when he was two years old, and five years later the family moved to Montreal, Canada, because his father was a shipping merchant. In 2002, Doig moved back to Trinidad to work on the rich history and tropical flair of the Caribbean.
Peter Doig, Paragon 2006
Formerly the Gare d'Orsay, the museum's works are housed in the iconic Dome Gallery, either from works that the artist refused to sell or from loan exhibitions at the museum. In the exhibition, strong orange splashes appear in Paragon (2006), 100 Years ago (2000 2001) and Two Trees (2017), a difference of nearly 20 years. It also reveals the roots of Doig's early modernism.
Peter Doig, Two Trees, 2017
Six years to complete, the large-scale Two Trees depicts three young men, standing in front of the sea, with the horizon illuminated by the rising moon or setting sun, bringing together iconic motifs such as water, reflections, lonely boats, snowfall, vibrant colors, and mysterious messages.
In another adjacent gallery, Doig discarded the usual museum chronology and classification criteria, and was driven by "humble curiosity" to excavate obscure works from the museum's storerooms for a new interpretation with the artist's eye.
Jean-Léon Jerome, Young Greek Cockfighting, 1846
Collection of the Musée d'Orsay.
Jean-Léon Jerome's "Greek Youth in a Cockfight" has a cinematic quality, and what fascinates Doig is the stark contrast between the image of a rooster frozen in time – beak, claws, bejeweled eyes and feathers – and the radiant ** of the beautiful protagonist.
Claude Monet, Camille on His Deathbed, 1879, Musée d'Orsay.
Doig did not choose the landscapes for which Claude Monet was famous, and Camille on His Deathbed (1879) was Monet's last portrait of his dying wife, Camille. In the layout of the exhibition, it forms a juxtaposition with Manet's Berthe Morisot with a Fan (1874).
Paul Gauguin, The White Horse, 1989, Collection of the Musée d'Orsay.
Gauguin's painting was created 34 years after Coulbet's work, and Gauguin was captivated by the tropical landscape, painting the scene as if lost in a dreamlike reverie. Doig places the two artworks side by side in order to explore their similarities, not differences.
The Musée d'Orsay, which houses the world's largest collection of Impressionist works and is known as the "temple of Impressionism", eschews these and instead turns his attention to the dark side of the 19th century, echoing the contradictions and growing seriousness of his own mature paintings.
Foreign countries are not just foreign lands
As the tastes continue to change, the pendulum of art swings back and forth. In the long history of painting in the West, landscape painting has always been on the margins, and in the 19th century, the Barbizon School, Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism pushed landscape painting to unprecedented heights, but then it was forgotten until Doig appeared.
Peter Doig.
musée d'orsay / sophie crépy
As a leading figure in the revival of figurative painting, Doig brings to the 21st century lonely figures, ethereal landscapes, night scenes, and otherworldly lights that reflect a century of modernist issues while proposing a new visual language suited to the uniqueness of contemporary experience.
Doig spent most of his life on the move, reinventing himself in a new culture. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he came to Trinidad with his family when he was two years old. He spent his teenage years in Quebec, Canada, before returning to England in the 80s ......"I am an outsider, I have always been an outsider", Doig expressed his perception of his own identity many times, and in each migration, in the coverage and concealment of painting, wandering has become an indispensable key word to understand him.
Peter Doig, Ping Pong, 2006-08
One of the things about Doig's artistic practice is the way he thinks about the history of painting. Like his predecessors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he draws inspiration from everyday life, reconstructing these places and moments with memories and snapshots taken with his mobile phone. For some art lovers, this reconstruction is reminiscent of Gauguin and seems to be associated with artists such as Eduard Monchi, Gustav Klimt and Claude Monet.
Most of Doig's subjects are landscapes, and he is not strictly a landscape artist. His sources of inspiration are very varied, and postcards, record covers, and movie posters recreate images, creating a tension between abstraction and figuration.
Peter Doig, "Bather" 2023
Between the cracks of modernism, everything is enduring, everything will happen, and the strongest emotions can be churned in the calmest normality. Doig transforms the image into a tension that is difficult to achieve but seems to be imminent, imbuing the picture with an imperceptible sense of depth. Especially in the current age of digital images, the images he creates have a deeper meaning.
Why did he "applaud and applaud".
Over the past few years, Doig's works have repeatedly become popular at auction.
In 1994, Doig was nominated for the Tanner Prize, but remained unpopular in the market, and four years later, Doig made his debut at auction, selling for $3,000 on paper. At that time, YBA, minimalism, neo-geometry and conceptualism led by Damien Hearst were in vogue in Britain, which had a great impact on easel painting.
Peter Doig, The White Canoe
Transaction price: USD 11.3 million.
In 2007, White Canoe sold for $11.3 million at Sotheby's, setting a record for a living European artist at auction, and he has since entered the market.
Peter Doig, The Architect's House in the Canyon
Sold price: USD 12 million.
Peter Doig, Rosedale, 1991
Transaction price: USD 28.81 million.
In 2013, "The Architect's House of the Canyon" sold for $12 million in London. In 2017, "Rosedale" sold at Phillips in New York for $28.81 million.
Peter Doig, "The Swamp".
Oil on canvas, 197 x 241 cm, 1990.
Transaction price: USD 39.86 million.
Set a new auction record for artists.
The market value of Doig is being significantly revalued. In 2015, "The Swamp" sold for nearly $26 million at Christie's in New York, and was acquired by Taiwanese entrepreneur Chen Taiming. Six years later, "Mire" reappeared at auction and sold for 39.86 million. It demonstrates the determination of collectors to acquire masterpieces by the most important artists of our time.
He was a star professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts in Germany, and his works have been auctioned for more than 10 million dollars many times, and have been collected by dozens of museums and private clubs. In addition, the scarcity of works determines their coveted properties in the seller's market, and auction records are constantly being refreshed.