Artistic World of Peter Doig: an Insight Into His Life and Work

Peter Doig is a contemporary Scottish artist I found that peaked my interest from his art work to his personal life. I’d like to start off by giving a brief background of the artist seeing that a lot of his work is landscapes from where he is living or lived. As well as being “one of the most important representational painters working today.”

“Doig was born April 2, 1959 in Edinburgh but lived in Trinidad, London, and Canada in his youth.” He studied at Central Saint Martins and Chelsea School of Art in London. He was an oil painter that was known for his landscapes inspired by his own “iterant lifestyle” and by physical progressions of modern society. He had a unique approach by calling forth the tradition of romantic landscape paintings. He drew attention to the art of applying paint to a canvas by combining ordinary subject matter with abstracted elements. His paintings came from photographic sources that could be his own landscape photos and film stills. Doig would take photos from magazines and newspapers which is up right amazing when he puts his own touch to them on a canvas. He never wanted to copy or replicate any images. He wanted to use them as a tool to help him create works of art that had memories of a certain place and time. Doigs work represented scenes ranging from rural, urban, and wooded landscapes to lone figures in fishing boats and artist studios. He focused on the illusionistic properties of oil painting. “In 1994 he was nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize, launching him to fame in the international art community.”

Getting into his works of art his paintings were defined by equal focus on landscapes and figures, melding art historically with his references into abstractions with distinctive compositions. Doig would form powerful and affecting snapshots of contemporary existence like a childhood trips or a colored object like a red apple. “I’m not trying to make paintings to look like photos. I want to make paintings using photos as a reference, the way painters did when photography was first invented.” His art had no certain way or steps being used to create the work but functions as a whole to show insight into his life and political beliefs. He says “I really don’t know what my paintings are about, and I don’t want to. I don’t see the point. If I analyze them, I wouldn’t make them. There has to be an unknown element to be interesting.” Which is precisely how I feel when I look at his works of art. I have no idea what the meaning behind these works are because of the abstraction put into his pieces. I also get a vibe of peace and tranquility when I look at a lot of his work as well because some are very lightly done using a white and red or other color.

His two most famous works the Pelican in 2003 and Pelican in 2004 drew my attention because they are similar but different at the same time. In both works a bare-chested and wearing white swimwear or some sort of clothes walks under palm fronds by the edge of the sea. In the first Pelican there is more definition and/or detail in the man’s body and trees with a darker setting. He uses darker greens and blues mostly making it seem as though he isn’t on the beach but by a waterfall while he walks through the water. It gives off a darker image making me feel almost sad in a way but amazed by the brush work on the canvas. In the second Pelican piece his brush work is not as detailed and more smudge like than anything else but shows the man’s reflection in the water and you can tell he’s on and actual beach but he’s almost transparent and makes me wonder what he’s carrying because there is no detail. Reading about the work I know it is a pelican but why does he have it. It raises questions in my head like “Did he kill the Pelican?” or “Why create two of the same pieces in different colors?” I know Doig doesn’t care for a meaning or to analyze but I believe he wants others to.

Doig peeked my interest because I connect with him on his thoughts. When I create art there is usually never a meaning in my drawings or paintings. They are just random movements that I feel I should make. I never think too deep into what I’m creating. He doesn’t know what his paintings are about and doesn’t want to know because he wants there to be and unknown element of interesting and that element is what dragged me to him because I love to wonder, and I like that I can’t figure out what the meaning behind his work is.