Just opened at London’s Courtauld Gallery, The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Peter Doig is a major exhibition of new and recent works by one of the most celebrated and important painters working today.
Peter Doig, who secured his early reputation in the 1990s with a series of large-scale, immersive landscape paintings, is now acknowledged as one of world’s leading artists. Whilst Doig’s paintings are often related to places where he has lived, they exist somewhere between actual places and the realms of the imagination, and they show an array of inspirations, including films, album covers and art history.
Doig was born in Edinburgh in 1959 but lived in Trinidad as a young child, followed by Canada where he grew up. In the 1980s, his ambition to become a painter brought him to London, where he studied at several art schools. In the following decade, Peter Doig would become one of the leading painters of his generation.
In 2002, Doig settled in Trinidad where his art became deeply connected to his experiences of the island’s life and diverse culture. In 2021, Doig returned to London and set up a new studio. Paintings produced in this studio, some of which were started in Trinidad and New York, feature in the exhibition and the experience of transition – seen in a rich variety of places, people, memories and ways of painting – is evident.
Alongside showing these new paintings, the exhibition showcases Doig’s work as a printmaker, with a display of prints made in response to the poetry of friend and collaborator, Derek Walcott (1930-1917). Printmaking is an integral part of Doig’s artistic life, his prints and paintings often in dialogue with one another, and this will be the first public display for this series.
The exhibition will also explore how Peter Doig interacts with past artists – in particular, with Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists who are at the heart of The Courtauld’s collection – recasting and reinventing traditions to create his own distinctive work. From landscapes to monumental figure paintings, visitors will be able to consider Doig’s contemporary work in light of artists who are important to him, such as Cézanne, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Pissarro and Van Gogh.
Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, Head of The Courtauld Gallery, said:
“We are excited to unveil this new exhibition of works by Peter Doig, the first since his return to London. The Courtauld’s great Impressionist collection is a touchstone for many artists. It offers the perfect context to experience how Doig’s work resonates strongly with the art of the past whilst charting new directions.”
The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Peter Doig is now open at The Courtauld Gallery (until 29 May). The exhibition is sponsored by Morgan Stanley and supported by Kenneth C. Griffin and the Huo Family Foundation with additional support from the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne.
For further information: courtauld.ac.uk
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Image: The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Peter Doig at The Courtauld. Photo Fergus Carmichael, 2023