“The House That Jack Built,” painted by Peter Doig in 1992, is a landscape artwork associated with the Magic Realism movement. The artwork captures a scene that merges the ordinary with the extraordinary, imbued with mystical elements and a dreamlike quality.
In the artwork, a house, rendered in warm, earthy tones, sits serenely in the midst of a forested backdrop. The house, characterized by its modernist architecture and multi-colored brick facade, evokes a sense of isolation and introspection. Surrounding the house, tall birch trees with white bark stand stark against the dark, textured background, which transitions into an intense, fiery sky above. The sky, ablaze with hues of orange, red, and gold, creates a stark contrast and infuses the scene with an otherworldly atmosphere. The artwork’s lower half is occupied by an abstract representation of a brick wall, painted with broad strokes and vibrant, intersecting colors, enhancing the surreal quality of the composition. Through the use of bold colors and detailed rendering, Doig constructs a rich visual narrative that straddles the boundary between reality and imagination.