Peter Doig's Wistful Paintings at The Courtauld

Peter Doig‘s exhibition has opened at The Courtauld to much fanfare and unsurprisingly rave reviews.

Doig is surely one of very few contemporary painters whose work manages to stand up alongside Gauguin, Manet and Degas in the next door rooms of this famous collection.

Some paintings will be familiar to those who visited Doig’s exhibition at Michael Werner Gallery in London in 2018 and will feature at The Courtauld alongside a collection of new works from Trinidad.

The newly finished Canal (2023), depicting a London view of Regent’s Canal, and Alpinist (2022), a fantastical vision of a skier in Zermatt, are both astounding paintings.

In Canal (2023), Doig’s flagrant use of colour and fluid brushstrokes lay the foundations for a wistful and mesmerising composition. The bridge is an intense charge of red while the surrounding imagery adopts a softer, naturalistic palette.

Doig’s fondness for London seeps through his masterful scenery, accompanied by his unique ability to capture moments of transience.

Main image: Peter Doig, Alpinist (2022) (detail). Pigment on linen. 295 x 195 cm. © Peter Doig/DACS 2023. Courtesy the artist and The Courtauld, London.