Peter Doig is one of the most celebrated artists of his generation and his etheral and mysterious paintings are part of the most renowned collections around the world.

The Courtauld presents a small but excellent exhibition of some of Doig’s recent masterpieces until 29th May 2023. The works convey ideas of memories, transitions and explore a wide range of places and subject matters. The exhibition features paintings made since the artist’s move from Trinidad to London in 2021 and the show marks the first contemporary presentation at The Courtauld since it reopened in 2021 too – a nice coincidence.

The artist has long admired the collection of The Courtauld Gallery and the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, at its heart, have been an inspiration for Doig’s own painting and printmaking over the course of his career. Artists such as Gauguin, Pissarro and Van Gogh have long been influences. Doig’s new works brilliantly dialogue with masterpieces by these luminaries in the adjacent rooms.

Highlights include House of Music (Soca Boat) completed in 2023. Doig based this painting on a photograph of fishermen holding aloft their catch. He transformed the image in paint, turning the fishermen into musicians in a poetic transition. Doig took his title from a song called “Dat Soca Boat (1979)” by Shadow, one of Trinidad’s most famous soca musicians who helped to define this modern form of music. Shadow sings of his passion for music and not wanting to sink “da soca boat”. Doig gives visual form to the idea of soca music being a boat at sea.

The Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery, a few rooms downstairs, is also showcasing the artist’s work as a printmaker with a display that unveils for the first time a series of prints Doig made in response to the poetry of his friend and collaborator, the late Derek Walcott (1930-2017). This is the exhibition of the season and one not to miss!

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