Peter Doig

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is brighter and more vibrant in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There are two tiny lines of very fine craquelure to the white impasto brushmark towards the centre of the left edge. There are some scattered specks of dust adhering to the black paint of the trees in the upper part of the composition, as is visible in the catalogue illustration. There is no evidence of any retouching when examined under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Briey was one of Peter Doig's first works to take as its subject Le Corbusier's 1956 Unité D'Habitation de Briey-en-Foret  - a brutalist Post War housing development in North Eastern France. Between 1991 and 1999, Doig revisited this subject of the Unité several times, each time tackling a different prospect of the abandoned building. In the present work, he develops the hidden tensions and unspoken narratives between nature and culture that he had first introduced in paintings like Swamped (1991) and the Architect's Home in the Ravine (1991), and here invests the architecture of the iconic utopian building with a sense of loss and foreboding. Devoid of any human presence, the Mondrianesque grid of the distant building crumbles into an abstract glimpse of colours and shapes engulfed within the dark, sinuous tress that envelop it.