| Peter Doig | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Photo by: Honkadori Creative Commons | |
| Born | 1959 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish, British |
| Education | Wimbledon School of Art St. Martin’s School of Art Chelsea School of Art |
| Movement | Magic Realism |
| Field | Painting |
| Works | |
Pete Doig is a renowned artist from the United Kingdom. He is known for several works of art, namely his White Canoe piece which sold for a record amount at a Sotheby’s auction.
Peter Doig’s Early Life
Doig was born Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1959. However, in 1962, he and his family relocated to Trinidad because his father started a job there working with a company that specialized in shipping and trading. A few years later in 1966, Doig moved to Canada and then to the UK in 1979 where he attended the Wimbledon School of Art.
He studied fine art there, but he also attended the St Martin’s School of Art, as well as the Chelsea School of Art, which is where he obtained an MA. However, he decided to move back to Canada in the mid-1980s. This is where he decided to live and work for several years.
Doig Finds Success
With his painting Blotter, Doig won first place at the John Moores exhibition in 1993. This is when he started to gain more of attention from the public. But when he was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1994, he got even more attention for his artwork from the public. These two years were a major turning point in his artistic career.
Doig decided to move back to Trinidad in 2002. He set up a studio there near the Port of Spain. During the same year, he also became a professor at an arts academy located in Germany.
Doig still resides in Trinidad where he continues to create art.
Doig’s Artistic Techniques
Many of Doig’s works are generally paintings that resemble abstracts, but many of them are also landscapes. He has paintings which reflect his time in Canada with snowy scenes and other reflections of his time spent there.
When Doig paints landscapes, he generally paints formally and he also bases much of his work on photographs. However, he said that his work does not incorporate any type of photorealist style. He only uses photos as a reference for his paintings.
Doig’s Paintings
One of Doig’s most famous paintings is titled White Canoe, which is a piece of artwork that shows a white canoe in the middle of the water with a surrounding landscape. This particular painting sold at an auction in 2007 for $11.3 million. At the time that the painting sold, this was a record-breaking amount of money paid for any painting at the auction for a living European artist.
In addition to the previously mentioned Blotter, which made Doig more popular than ever, there was another painting that brought even more attention to him. It was called Ski Jacket, which was completed in 1994. This particular painting was an oil painting on canvas which brought Doig some fame as well.
Another oil canvas painting that Doig created was called Architect’s Home in the Ravine. This specific painting was done in 1991 and was one of his earliest works that started to gain a little bit of attention.
Doig’s Current Life and Art
In 2008, Doig held his first ever solo exhibition. Today, he is a respected artist among his peers and some would even say he is one of the best painters who is alive today. He still creates artwork and he is one of the most sought after artists in the world today.