Scottish painter Peter Doig is collaborating with mega-dealer Larry Gagosian to curate an upcoming exhibition at Gagosian’s 980 Madison Avenue location in New York. This new project follows Doig’s departure from Michael Werner Gallery, which represented him for more than two decades, in 2023.
The exhibition, titled “The Street,” will open on November 1st and run until December 18th. Doig was inspired by Balthus’s 1933 painting of the same name, curating a selection of works that explore themes of urban life, labor, and architecture. The titular Balthus work, on loan from the Museum of Modern Art, will be included, along with works by Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko, Giorgio de Chirico, Max Beckmann, Vija Celmins, Denzil Forrester, and many others. The exhibition will also feature new works by Doig himself, and be accompanied by a catalog.
“This exhibition was born from more than a year of conversations and represents what is, for me, an exciting opportunity to present a selection of works by painters that I admire for their inventiveness and ability to surprise,” said Doig in a press release. “Larry immediately recognized the potential for an exhibition informed by the eye of a painter, rather than a curator or gallerist, and is the ideal partner to bring it to fruition.”
“The Street” will be one of Gagosian’s final exhibitions in its Madison Avenue location, one of six locations in the city. Its lease there is expected to expire in April 2025, after which the space is set to be taken over by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Doig has recently made headlines for voicing concerns about the art market, particularly regarding the opacity of secondary-market sales and their lack of returns for artists. In an interview with The Guardian last month, Doig reported that, despite his works achieving approximately £380 million ($498 million) at auction since 2007, his personal earnings from these sales amounted to only about £230,000 ($300,350).
Doig’s recent exhibitions include a 2023 solo show at the Courtauld Gallery in London and “Reflections of the Century” at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. In the latter, Doig placed new works in dialogue with works in the museum’s collection.
“After seeing his project at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris last year, I invited Peter to curate one of the final exhibitions for our 980 Madison Avenue gallery,” said Larry Gagosian. “It is one of several collaborations that we are discussing, and I am very excited to be working with this hugely important and influential artist in this unique way.”