The artist had to prove in court that he was not the author of the painting, estimated at 10 million US dollars

CHICAGO. The Scottish artist was sued after he refused to confirm the authenticity of the painting, painted forty years ago and signed by his name.

The Chicago Federal Court ruled that the painting, which is tentatively valued at $ 10 million, does not belong to Peter Doig. Thus, the court refused the lawsuit to the former Canadian officer, the owner of the painting, who wanted to sell it and went to court after Doig refused to confirm his authorship.

An unusual authentication lawsuit was initiated back in 2013. The owner of the painting Robert Fletcher and art dealer Peter Bartlow demanded from Doig to prove that he was not involved in creating the painting.

Fletcher claimed to have met Doig back at the University of Lakehead in the 1970s. According to him, in 1976 he bought a painting for $ 100 from an artist who was serving a sentence for drug use and distribution at the Thunder Bay correctional center where Fletcher worked. Fletcher said that he witnessed how Doig painted, fell in love with this landscape and acquired it.

A few years later, a friend of Fletcher, noticing the picture, suggested that it might belong to Doig. To establish the authorship of the canvas, Fletcher began to collaborate with Bartlow, who owns an art gallery in Chicago and who co-acted in the process.

In their study, Fletcher and Bartlow tried to show the similarities between this picture and other works of Doig. In addition, they claimed that Doig denied authorship because of a sense of embarrassment for his past, namely, for drug use and imprisonment.

In his defense, Doig stated that he had never studied at the university and was never imprisoned, referring as evidence to university archival records, letters from his mother about his whereabouts, and testimonies from school friends. In addition, during the hearing, he stated that he began to write on canvas only at the end of 1979.

“If I had painted this picture when I was 16, I would have recognized it,” said Peter Doig.

The artist was born in Edinburgh in 1959. Until 1966, before moving to Canada, the Doig family lived in Trinidad. Only recently, his magical landscapes became popular in the market, and last year one of the paintings was sold for 26 million US dollars.

Along with the recognition of authorship, Fletcher and Bartlow demanded $ 5 million compensation from Doig. The artist’s lawyers found the real author, another Pete Doig, whose biography is consistent with the facts cited by Fletcher. The second Doig died in 2012, but his sister, Marilyn Doig Boward, confirmed in court that the picture was painted by her late brother.

In a written statement after the verdict, Doig said that although justice had triumphed, this had to wait too long. The plaintiffs’ lawyers have not yet decided whether they will appeal this decision.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru