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拍品專文
Between 1991 and 1996 Peter Doig concentrated on a series of paintings, drawings and photographs based on Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation in the provincial French city of Briey-en-forêt, France. Designed in 1956 as a residential building, the structure soon became a symbol of Brutalist architecture (a term which refers to the French beton brut meaning "raw concrete"). The strikingly blockish, geometric and repetitive shapes of the structure are representative of the Modernist utopian ideology, and illustrate the idea of modern technology leading to the advancement of society. The building itself is situated within a heavily wooded compound, marking a strong contrast between the stark modernist design and the natural, organic beauty of the surrounding wilderness.
By the 1970s the Unité d'Habitation had fallen into disrepair and was soon abandoned. Soon after, the building became a sort of squatter artist commune inhabited by a number of artists, including Doig. Although he only lived there for a short period of time his experiences would later become a major source of influence for what is now considered to be one of his most important series.
The present lot, Pink Briey (1997), is an extremely unique variation from the Briey series. The majority of the paintings from this series are executed in a fairly traditional and realist manner, the architectural elements of the structure recorded with proficient accuracy, the palettes diverse in hues and the plant-life slightly obscuring the building, but still rendered fairly clearly. Unlike the other landscapes, here Doig's handling of the paint is undoubtedly influenced by the Impressionists. The heavy impasto and monochromatic palette creates a mysterious and numbing sensation. Several loosely painted trees and copious amounts of undergrowth obscure the view of the Corbusier building, but unlike in his previous work, the scene is somewhat fuzzy, rendered in such a way that the onlooker is left feeling slightly woozy. As parts of the building start to make their way through the obstruction, the viewer is drawn into the painting, caught wandering around somewhere in the magical, dream-like landscape.
"Often I am trying to create a 'numbness.' I am trying to create something that is questionable, something that is difficult if not impossible, to put into words" (Doig, in "20 Questions by Matthew Higgs", in Peter Doig, Vancouver 2001).
By the 1970s the Unité d'Habitation had fallen into disrepair and was soon abandoned. Soon after, the building became a sort of squatter artist commune inhabited by a number of artists, including Doig. Although he only lived there for a short period of time his experiences would later become a major source of influence for what is now considered to be one of his most important series.
The present lot, Pink Briey (1997), is an extremely unique variation from the Briey series. The majority of the paintings from this series are executed in a fairly traditional and realist manner, the architectural elements of the structure recorded with proficient accuracy, the palettes diverse in hues and the plant-life slightly obscuring the building, but still rendered fairly clearly. Unlike the other landscapes, here Doig's handling of the paint is undoubtedly influenced by the Impressionists. The heavy impasto and monochromatic palette creates a mysterious and numbing sensation. Several loosely painted trees and copious amounts of undergrowth obscure the view of the Corbusier building, but unlike in his previous work, the scene is somewhat fuzzy, rendered in such a way that the onlooker is left feeling slightly woozy. As parts of the building start to make their way through the obstruction, the viewer is drawn into the painting, caught wandering around somewhere in the magical, dream-like landscape.
"Often I am trying to create a 'numbness.' I am trying to create something that is questionable, something that is difficult if not impossible, to put into words" (Doig, in "20 Questions by Matthew Higgs", in Peter Doig, Vancouver 2001).