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Lot Essay
Painted the year Peter Doig was shortlisted for the Turner Prize, Briey presents a close view of Le Corbusier's architectural tour-de-force, the Unit d'Habitation de Briey-en-Fort, abandoned and left to disrepair amidst an ever-encroaching forest. Part of what has become one of the artist's most renowned series, the Concrete Cabin series, of which three large examples were featured in Doig's Turner Prize installation at the Tate, Briey affords viewers a rewarding glimpse into the artist's experience, preoccupations and process.
Transportive atmosphere is a characteristic quality of Doig's painting and Briey, with its cropped composition and evocative colors, effectively envelopes viewers in the hushed, cool woods of Northern France. As the eye travels through the scene, peering through leafy branches, one feels as if they have unexpectedly stumbled upon this modernist relic while walking through the dense forest. The sensation effectively recreates the artist's real life experience of first seeing the structure while hiking through the woods. Captivated by the scene, Doig took pictures and later recorded films of his approach. Despite the fluid and hazy nature of many of his paintings, suggestive of muddled dreams and vague recollections, Doig's work is always based in reality, often inspired by photographs that, strewn about his studio, their surfaces marred with itinerant drips of paint, are frequently the source materials for his art.
The artist has described his intent with the Concrete Cabin series as, "to be about the act of looking through to find focus" (P. Doig in Peter Doig, exh. Cat, London, Tate, 2008, p. 38.) Perception, how we see, is of particular interest to Doig. He has noted in conversations about the series the influence of Cezanne's constructive use of color and the Impressionists' focus on light. Informed by these methods, Doig takes a step further and strives to capture the movement of sight. It was because he was not satisfied with the still nature of his photographs of the Unitée d'Habitation de Briey-en-Forêt that Doig returned to the site to take video. With these further recordings of the scene, he pursued his goal in this celebrated group of renditions, recreating shifting views of the stark building as seen from various perspectives, always perceived through a scrim of dark trees.
Briey presents a rare close-up view of Le Corbusier's decaying masterwork. Doig most often depicts the structure from a distance, but here, viewers are able to get tantalizingly close, an entrance to the building visible through the foliage. The rising white facade gleams brightly through the shadowy branches, but its recesses are dark and empty, unsettling as they echo with life lost. Curious to see more, the eye jumps between the imposing verticals of the surrounding trees and the rigid criss-crossing lines of the building. The edges of the forms are vague and out of focus, blurred as they are in reality when the eye moves quickly through a crowded scene.
While creating engrossing environments, Doig always revels in his materials and the textured surfaces of his paintings are testaments to his virtuous manipulation of paint. Briey is no exception and here, more than in many of the larger Concrete Cabin works, the hand of the artist is emphatically present. Veils of watery oils are counterbalanced with thick purposeful brushstrokes and lively dabs of paint are off-set against static and exact planes of color. Absolutely signature in its subject matter and style, Briey stands apart in its intimacy. The painting begs viewers to look closer, drawing them in to get a better view of the mysterious building lost in the forest and of the artist at work.
Transportive atmosphere is a characteristic quality of Doig's painting and Briey, with its cropped composition and evocative colors, effectively envelopes viewers in the hushed, cool woods of Northern France. As the eye travels through the scene, peering through leafy branches, one feels as if they have unexpectedly stumbled upon this modernist relic while walking through the dense forest. The sensation effectively recreates the artist's real life experience of first seeing the structure while hiking through the woods. Captivated by the scene, Doig took pictures and later recorded films of his approach. Despite the fluid and hazy nature of many of his paintings, suggestive of muddled dreams and vague recollections, Doig's work is always based in reality, often inspired by photographs that, strewn about his studio, their surfaces marred with itinerant drips of paint, are frequently the source materials for his art.
The artist has described his intent with the Concrete Cabin series as, "to be about the act of looking through to find focus" (P. Doig in Peter Doig, exh. Cat, London, Tate, 2008, p. 38.) Perception, how we see, is of particular interest to Doig. He has noted in conversations about the series the influence of Cezanne's constructive use of color and the Impressionists' focus on light. Informed by these methods, Doig takes a step further and strives to capture the movement of sight. It was because he was not satisfied with the still nature of his photographs of the Unitée d'Habitation de Briey-en-Forêt that Doig returned to the site to take video. With these further recordings of the scene, he pursued his goal in this celebrated group of renditions, recreating shifting views of the stark building as seen from various perspectives, always perceived through a scrim of dark trees.
Briey presents a rare close-up view of Le Corbusier's decaying masterwork. Doig most often depicts the structure from a distance, but here, viewers are able to get tantalizingly close, an entrance to the building visible through the foliage. The rising white facade gleams brightly through the shadowy branches, but its recesses are dark and empty, unsettling as they echo with life lost. Curious to see more, the eye jumps between the imposing verticals of the surrounding trees and the rigid criss-crossing lines of the building. The edges of the forms are vague and out of focus, blurred as they are in reality when the eye moves quickly through a crowded scene.
While creating engrossing environments, Doig always revels in his materials and the textured surfaces of his paintings are testaments to his virtuous manipulation of paint. Briey is no exception and here, more than in many of the larger Concrete Cabin works, the hand of the artist is emphatically present. Veils of watery oils are counterbalanced with thick purposeful brushstrokes and lively dabs of paint are off-set against static and exact planes of color. Absolutely signature in its subject matter and style, Briey stands apart in its intimacy. The painting begs viewers to look closer, drawing them in to get a better view of the mysterious building lost in the forest and of the artist at work.