Peter Doig
33 works
Peter Doig's auction market demonstrates extraordinary strength for works from his breakthrough period in the early 1990s, with his record of £25.4M set by Swamped (1990) in 2021. His most valuable works span multiple periods, with significant value placed on his architectural landscapes and iconic canoe paintings. His distinctive approach to memory and place is evident across his top-selling works, many of which feature his characteristic technique of transforming ordinary scenes into dreamlike compositions. The consistent performance of paintings from 1990-96 reflects collector confidence in his formative period, with seven of his 10 highest prices achieved since 2017.
Peter Doig (b. 1959) has established himself as one of the most significant painters of his generation, creating mesmerising, dreamlike landscapes that exist between reality and imagination. His peripatetic childhood - moving from Edinburgh to Trinidad at age three and then to Canada - profoundly influenced his artistic vision of place and memory. His distinctive approach to figurative painting gained prominence whilst resisting the dominant art movements of the 1990s, prioritising atmosphere and psychological depth over conceptual approaches. While his limited edition prints maintain steady demand, his unique, architectural oil paintings command the highest prices, consistently achieving eight-figure sums at prestigious auction houses.
($34,500,000)
Swamped (1990) achieved Doig's current auction record when it sold at Christie's New York in November 2021, significantly surpassing its previous sale of £14.9 million at the same auction house in May 2015. This painting represents one of Doig's earliest and most significant canoe paintings, a motif that would become emblematic within his work. The painting emerged from an unexpected source - a scene from the 1980 horror film Friday the 13th - which Doig transformed into what he described as "a romantic dream" when removed from its original context. "I saw this scene and went out to the barn and made a painting of it that night," Doig explained, noting how this direct cinematic reference unexpectedly became part of his "official" career story despite being an exception in his source material. The canoe motif introduced in Swamped (1990) would return in several of his most celebrated paintings, including White Canoe (1990-91) and Canoe Lake (1997-98), and one of his most sought-after prints, Canoe Island (2000), going on to define a significant portion of his career, combining magical realism with a distinctive photo-album feel.
($25,500,000)
Rosedale (1991) sold at Phillips New York in May 2017, and held Doig’s auction record for four years before the 2021 sale of Swamped (1990). This diptych painting relates to the Toronto neighbourhood of Rosedale, where architect Eberhard Zeidler's Modernist home was located - a subject Doig also explored in his related painting The Architect's Home In The Ravine (1991) from the same year. In Rosedale (1991), Doig presents his characteristic approach of partially obscuring structures behind screens of complex foliage, creating tension between the man-made world and nature. Glimpses of architecture can be seen through dense, almost abstract patterns of vegetation, reflecting Doig's fascination with what is hidden or partially revealed. The painting exemplifies his ability to transform a photographic source into an almost abstract pattern through his painterly style.
($18,500,000)
Another significant sale from 2017, Red House (1995-96) sold at Phillips New York in November 2017. This piece features a vibrant red building standing in stark contrast to the more muted, snow-covered, shadowy surroundings, creating a contrast and tension that is characteristic of Doig's work. Doig’s love of high contrast snow scenes would also emerge in his print-making, particularly in the Zermatt D1 and Blizzard ‘77 series. The dramatic colouration of the ‘red house’ against a winter landscape bridges Doig's earlier, more reserved palette with the increasingly bold use of colour that would become more pronounced after his relocation to Trinidad. The house functions as both a physical structure and a psychological space, reflecting Doig's interest in architecture as a symbol of human presence within the natural world - the shadowy figures around the house are seemingly suspended within its orbit. During this period, Doig was establishing himself as a major figure in contemporary painting, gaining recognition for his ability to create uncanny landscapes that draw on personal experiences and memories. The work was mainly kept in private collections until its 2017 sale, with only a brief display at the Tate Britain in 2008.
Camp Forestia (1996) achieved this impressive result at Christie's London in October 2017 - a year that emerged as Doig’s most successful to date. The piece is a prime example of Doig’s fascination with reflection and creating "double worlds." It belongs to what could be called Doig's Reflection Series, which includes other significant works like Pine House (Rooms for Rent) (1994) and elements of the famous White Canoe (1990-91). These paintings use reflective surfaces to create a doubling that speaks to Doig's broader interests in memory, perception, and alternative realities. The white cabin of Camp Forestia (1996), likely named after a location in rural Canada, is perfectly reflected in still, dark water, with haunting, eerie effects. The piece emerges from a period when Doig had established himself as a major figure in contemporary painting, just two years after his Turner Prize nomination.
The Architect's Home In The Ravine (1991) sold at Sotheby's London in March 2018, two years after it achieved £10 million at Christie’s London in February 2016, and five years after it achieved £6.8 million at Christie’s London in February 2013. Its rapid appreciation of value proves that it is one of Doig's most significant and celebrated works from his breakthrough period. The painting was again inspired by the Toronto home of architect Eberhard Zeidler, located in the wealthy suburb of Rosedale, which Doig had visited as a child. However, the composition and mood draw heavily from another architectural source - Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation. In the summer of 1991, Doig visited this abandoned Modernist building and was struck by the view of it from the surrounding dense forest, an experience that profoundly influenced this painting and would later inspire his celebrated Concrete Cabin series. Doig's relationship with architectural subjects emerges partly from his nomadic upbringing - "We never lived in a house for more than three months," he once recalled, explaining that his "thinking is always between places."
Boiler House (1993) sold at Christie's London in October 2020. It depicts an industrial structure - a boiler house - partially obscured by trees and rich foliage, and illuminated by low sunlight. The darker palette and more mysterious atmosphere create a distinct mood that differs from some of his brighter, more vibrant works. It emerges from the same year that Doig won the prestigious John Moores Painting Prize for Blotter (1993) - a painting of Doig’s brother standing on a frozen lake that is widely described as one of his best works, and which marked a turning point in his career. What makes Boiler House (1993) particularly noteworthy is how, by placing a functional, utilitarian structure within a natural setting, Doig imbues it with mystery and emotion. The piece has been included in many international exhibitions of Doig’s work, including Peter Doig: Charley’s Space and the retrospective that toured the Tate Britain in London, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt.
The atmospheric landscape Cobourg 3 + 1 More (1994) sold at Christie's London in March 2017. It demonstrates Doig’s increasing experimentation with surface, texture, and the materiality of paint during this period. The title references Cobourg, Ontario, in Canada, connecting the work directly to Doig's childhood experiences and memories; however, Doig’s opinion on depicting places in his paintings was clear: "I don't think my paintings are about Trinidad or Canada, they're about my idea of what that place is. The place is a kind of portal to possibilities and painting." It was created in 1994, the same year Doig was nominated for the Turner Prize, which ultimately went to Antony Gormley. The painting's more abstract, ethereal quality, with its layered, atmospheric effects and dripping paint, exemplifies Doig’s two central themes: memory and nostalgia. The unfocused final image mimics the feeling of looking back on an old, distorted memory. His paintings do not merely document landscapes but instead reconstruct them through a dreamlike, subjective lens, making his works feel instantly relatable.
($16,000,000)
One of the earliest sales on this list, Pine House (Rooms For Rent) (1994) sold at Christie's New York in November 2014, achieving this impressive result for another example of Doig's architectural reflections. Doig’s approach to reflection relates to his broader interest in doubled imagery and alternative realities - this time, the reflection is less clear, but hinted at on the wet surface of the road. The hazy colour palette, too, adds to the work’s surreal quality. The subtitle Rooms For Rent adds a narrative element that is characteristic of Doig's work, suggesting human presence and stories within these seemingly uninhabited places. The work is dated “Jul Aug Sept 94” on the reverse, alluding to Doig’s long painting process, whereby he would return to and add to works over a series of months.
Charley's Space (1991), created soon after Doig completed his Master’s degree at the Chelsea School of Art, sold at Christie's London in March 2018. This period, the early 1990s, marked a critical juncture in Doig's career. In 1991, the same year he created Charley's Space (1991), Doig won the prestigious Whitechapel Artists Award, leading to a solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery that included other major works such as Iron Hill (1991) and The Architect's Home In The Ravine (1991). Charley’s Space (1991) was donated to the Whitechapel Auction at Sotheby’s London in 2006 by Doig himself. What makes this period of Doig’s career particularly significant is that Doig was pursuing more traditional figurative and landscape painting at a time when the art world, especially in London, was dominated by the conceptual, shock-factor approaches of the Young British Artists. Without this contemporary context, Doig’s use of colour, focus, and contrast would have likely stood out as more radical.
The final work on this list is also the most recent. Gasthof (also known as Gasthof Zur Muldentalsperre) (2002-04) sold at Christie's London in July 2014 for £3.8 million above its high estimate. When this work was painted, in 2002, Doig had just returned to Trinidad for what was initially a temporary artist residency with fellow painter Chris Ofili but evolved into a nearly two-decade stay that would once again dramatically transform his palette and subjects. The central figures are based on costume photos from the opera Fidelio, adding to the diversity and intrigue of Doig’s source materials. His decision to use images from films and theatre to inform his paintings only multiplies their dreamlike, almost surreal composition. Certain elements often feel out of place or exaggerated, as if they are misremembered details. The mysterious costumed figures resist a definitive reading, creating the ambiguity central to Doig's approach. The German word "Gasthof" translates to "inn" or "guesthouse," directly reflecting Doig's own geographical and artistic transitions during this period, when he was also serving as a professor at the Fine Arts Academy in Düsseldorf, Germany (2002-17).