Investing guide
Peter Doig (Scottish Born/ Canadian and Trinidadian raised) has become one of the most influential painters working today. He is known for his “atmospheric” landscapes and figurative works that draws inspiration from personal memories, art history, and everyday ephemera (a description I like for his work, that I saw recently, is “oddly mournful” and “pick-and-mix”).
Similar to Cecily Brown, Peter Doig’s work can employ a delicate balance between Abstraction and Figuration, which helps his paintings have a broad appeal, and will help him maintain his popularity even as tastes in the art market fluctuate.
Peter Doig was represented by the uber-prestigious Michael Werner Gallery (New York, London) for 23 years until he left in February 2023 to handles his own representation.
His primary market prices are said to reach the low seven figures, while his auction record stands at $39.9 million, which was achieved for a 1990 painting, Swamped, at Christie’s New York in November 2021. His average secondary market price (for the 6 paintings that Artsy have recorded over the past 12 months) is $6.0 million, typically selling about 11% above the estimated price. His prints are performing even better from an investment perspective, selling for 51% above the estimated prices on average. Of course, his prints are selling for a lower average price (US$9,000).
Even with the immense appreciation in his work, I don’t think it is too late to acquire a Peter Doig print. In fact, his prints are still extremely affordable for the first time collector. Criminally so. We are talking about editioned prints of less than 100 for ~US$5,000 or less. And they are nice prints too, where a collector doesn’t have to feel like they are missing out on the best of the best and compromising for the sake of price. Some of Doig’s cheapest prints carry the same gravitas and signature style that his million dollar paintings possess.
Additionally, as a bonus, these prints are not ‘posters’ (signed or otherwise) which you will typically find scattered among the cheaper prints of other major blue chip painters (Like Frank Stella and Alex Katz). There is nothing terribly wrong with a signed poster, especially if it is pre-90s, and specially printed, but generally we want to avoid such works as investments.
I think Peter Doig’s popularity is far away from peaking, which means I see huge upside potential for him as an investment. He has a huge presence in the art world, but he is yet to crack mainstream attention like other contemporary painters such as David Hockney. Doig’s latest show, hosted at The Courtauld in London, where his works are shown next to the artworks of forever-heavyweights like Cézanne, Manet, Monet, and Renoir, will go some way in helping him reach a greater audience, with searches for Peter Doig on Google reaching heights this year not been seen since 2007 when his painting White Canoe, which sold at auction at Sotheby’s for $11.3 million. At that time, it was the highest amount ever paid for an artwork created by a living artist from Europe. The art world and extremely wealthy collectors love Doig, and in due time, beginner collectors will jump on board with grater urgency.
Where to Find Peter Doig Prints:
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Check out Masterworks and Yieldstreet to explore art funds that let you purchase shares in million-dollar artworks from blue chip artists like Banksy, Kaws, and Yayoi Kusama.
Read more: Art ETF: Masterworks vs. Yieldstreet
