Peter McDonald

Kate MacGarry, London
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2004

London, Kate MacGarry, Painting, 2004

Kate MacGarry, Peter Mc Donald: Teaching, Airport, Hair Salon, Bakery, Snooker, Rotterdam 2007, pp. 74-75, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is much brighter and more vibrant in the original, with the inner pink rectangle tending more towards a bubblegum pink and the outer pink tending more towards a baby pink. The pink in the paintings on the left of the composition is more florescent in the original and the streak of green paint on the right is much brighter. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is a short stretcher mark to the top right corner on the left panel. There is a short horizontal stretcher mark to the lower right corner of the right panel. There are a few faint handling marks along the top edge of both panels. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet 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."

Peter McDonald's work explores the human condition through a brightly coloured world of indeterminate characters presented in imaginary settings. Featureless, balloon-like heads are combined with imagery McDonald has gleaned from newspapers, magazines and everyday scenes, creating a unique pictorial language and a piercing insight into the absurdities and idiosyncrasies of modern society.

Executed in 2003, Painting captures a faceless artist, paintbrush in hand, at work on an oversized rectangular canvas. The rear wall of the imagined studio space is decorated with a medley of candy coloured paintings, while the artist's tools are arranged on a wooden trolley. The inflated ovoid of the figure's head – a trademark of McDonald's artistic vocabulary - along with the elongated canvas on which he paints, stretches across the picture plane in both a visual and physical link between the work's two constituent panels. Taking his inspiration from daily life, McDonald adapts his source imagery into small sketches, which are in turn developed into painted works on paper, before being further refined and distilled when translated onto canvas. As the process evolves, figures morph into ciphers, while colours overlap and merge across the composition. McDonald says of this process, "the transparent effect is an illusion in many cases. I mix the merging colours to produce a see-through effect. Sometimes the heads merge with the background too, which helps to create depth in the picture plane. Visually, this also helps depict the dissolution of boundaries between people and their environment" (the artist writing in: The Observer, 20 September 2009).

Awarded the prestigious John Moores Painting Prize in 2008 for his work Fontana - a depiction of the artist Lucio Fontana slashing an ovoid canvas - McDonald has most recently undertaken a residency at Southwark Underground station in London. The resulting mural, Art for Everybody, is a vibrant and monumental thirty-seven metre frieze inspired by the lively London underground staff and visitors to the nearby Tate Modern. Just as in Painting, the artist's facility for acute observation and intuitive colouring are perfectly captured, culminating in McDonald's trademark combination of irreverence and insight. Indeed, as he himself has observed, "seeing, hearing, feeling – all this gives you a way into some sort of vision" (the artist cited in: The Observer, 20 September 2009).