Peter Doig

Evocative of the photograph of a cat with the Matterhorn in the background that inspired his Zermatt paintings, the dramatic composition sets the crucifixion-like scene of ‘Holy Mountain’, the last of six prints in Peter Doig’s ‘Zermatt’ (D1, 2022), in the context of snowscapes. The Matterhorn is shown here as if illuminated by a bright light against a darkening sky, the figure of the skier simulating Christ, his cross swapped for pair of crossed skis. 

In ‘Holy Mountain’, Doig refers to the strong presence of the Christian faith in the town of Zermatt. A tradition connected to the town’s position within the perilous natural landscape, the potential dangers of the mountains are alluded to in this image. The poetry of Derek Walcott, a source which Doig cites as an important influence on ‘Zermatt’, also speaks to the danger of Zermatt’s landscape: “and they are as white as arrested avalanches,/ angry and Alpine, their petals blur into/ a white gust from the Matterhorn or the streets of Zermatt”. 

This fantastical scene is nonetheless compositionally arranged such that it evokes tourist board posters designed to entice people into the mountains. Set against the landscape’s dreamily depicted iconic mountain, ‘Holy Mountain’ follows the poster model in its vertical format and size. Translated from paint into print, the image finds itself in the form that inspired it, perfectly capturing in it the rich, painterly quality of Doig’s original execution.      

Holy Mountain

Zermatt

Evocative of the photograph of a cat with the Matterhorn in the background that inspired his Zermatt paintings, the dramatic composition sets the crucifixion-like scene of ‘Holy Mountain’, the last of six prints in Peter Doig’s ‘Zermatt’ (D1, 2022), in the context of snowscapes. The Matterhorn is shown here as if illuminated by a bright light against a darkening sky, the figure of the skier simulating Christ, his cross swapped for pair of crossed skis. 