A “monumental” collection of prints by one of the world’s leading artists, the Scottish painter Peter Doig, has been acquired by National Galleries of Scotland.
In a first the important works come with a commitment from the artist that all of his future prints will also join the national collection.
To mark this “unprecedented donation”, a selection has gone on display for free at National Galleries Scotland: Modern One, on Belford Road in Edinburgh.
The NGS said the “monumental addition” celebrated Edinburgh-born Doig’s “personal connection to Scotland, as well as his status as a leading artist of his generation”.
Visitors to the gallery will be able to view works relating to Morning, Paramin a 2016 book made in collaboration between Doig and the St Lucian poet, Derek Walcott.
Dreamlike landscapes
Doig, 66, is known for his dreamlike landscapes that blur observation and memory, referencing personal experiences, popular culture, and art history.
Born in Edinburgh in 1959, Doig moved with his family to Canada as a child. After returning to Britain to study art, he has lived in Trinidad since 2002.
In 2021, Doig relocated his main studio to London, which is now his principal residence.
His breakthrough as a painter was in 1990, while he was studying towards a master’s degree at Chelsea School of Art. In 1994 he was nominated for the Turner Prize.
Now one of the world’s most sought after living artists, he is credited with having reinvigorated the medium of painting internationally.
Several of his paintings have achieved eight figure sums at auction.
Among the most recent was a “majestic” oil painting of skiers titled “Ski Jacket”, painted in 1994, sold by auctioneers Christie’s in October for over £14 million.
In 2007, Doig’s painting, White Canoe, was sold for $11.3 million, setting an auction record for a living European artist at the time.
And in 2021, Doig’s 1990 oil painting “Swamped”, inspired by the classic horror film Friday The 13th, set a new world record for the artist at auction when it fetched nearly £30 million.
Printmaker
He is also a master printmaker, employing techniques that make his prints as evocative as his paintings.
The NGS has worked in partnership with the Contemporary Art Society (CAS) since 2018 to enable the gift from Doig through the CAS Great Works scheme, supported by the Sfumato Foundation.
The ambition of the scheme is to ensure that major artworks, which might otherwise be inaccessible to gallery audiences, are able to enter public collections during the lifetime of the artist.
A key consideration is the relationship of the artist to the location of the gallery receiving the acquisition, giving artists a lasting presence in a place that is of particular significance to them.
Whole career representation
The acquisition will mean that Scotland’s national collection will represent the artist across his whole career and will also hold the most comprehensive representation of the artist’s graphic work anywhere in the world.
Doig said: “I am delighted and deeply grateful that the National Galleries of Scotland will be the custodians of my prints.”
Simon Groom, Director of International & National Partnerships at the NGS, said: “Peter Doig is one of the most consistently inventive artists working anywhere in the world today.
“The works reveal a transforming vision of the world, steeped in a sense of beauty and mystery, rich in their imaginative suggestion yet remaining grounded in the real. This remains true of his prints, which have been an essential element of his practice from the very beginning of his career.
“We are indebted to Peter and the Contemporary Art Society for their generosity and great vision, in enabling the National Galleries of Scotland to represent Scotland’s greatest contemporary artist across his whole career, and to create an internationally unique resource that will be accessible for exhibition, loan and study now and for future generations.”
Caroline Douglas, Director, CAS, said: “Peter Doig is one of the most important artists working anywhere in the world today and printmaking lies at the core of his practice.
“We are delighted that National Galleries Scotland: Modern in Edinburgh will be the home to this remarkable body of work, which will be a resource for artists, scholars and art lovers forever more.”
The NGS has a long-standing relationship with the artist. In 2021 it acquired an important early oil painting, At the Edge of Town 1986-8, thanks to the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, while a major retrospective of Doig’s work was held at National Galleries Scotland: National in 2013.
At the time Doig said: “I left Scotland as a child as many of my generation did; however I know Edinburgh, the city where I was born, through many visits as a child and youth.
“To be able to exhibit my paintings in the magnificent rooms of the National Galleries is a great great honour.”
