Peter Doig Trial in Chicago Over Disputed Painting from 1976

In August 2016, a trial in Chicago centered on a disputed painting allegedly created by Peter Doig in 1976 at Thunder Bay Correction Centre in Canada. A former corrections officer claimed the teenage Doig sold him the work, signed 'Pete Doige 76'. Doig denied ever being in Thunder Bay, having a criminal record in Canada, or seeking employment from the Seafarers Union, as the owner asserted. The defense argued the painting was by a deceased amateur painter and convict named Peter Doige, incarcerated in Thunder Bay in 1975. During the trial, a curator covering the event sketched Doig and imagined Doige, noting their uncanny resemblance. On the final day, the curator interrupted proceedings by shouting about aesthetic rights, referencing Rosalind Krauss's 1986 essay 'The Originality of the Avant Garde', and was removed by security. Doig appeared to give a thumbs-up during the commotion. The curator was dispatched by an editor from ArtReview after travels in Europe, flying via Delta-KLM from Heathrow to Chicago. The article, an online exclusive published on 19 August 2016, humorously details the curator's experiences, including smuggling pickled garlic on the flight and referencing N.W.A's song 'Express Yourself'.