MY OWN PRIVATE MUSEUM (from 2023)
Stéphane Ducret’s portraits of contemporary masters and representations of historical and contemporary masterpieces bring together three interconnected and inextricable entities that define any work of art: the artist’s concept of the work, the technique used to create it and the work of art itself, which he unites in the very act of making the painting.
Stéphane Ducret
Lucas Arruda, Untitled (from the Deserto Modelo series), 2018
2024
Oil and oil stick on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
Private collection, Thônex
Stéphane Ducret
Ugo Rondinone, the scholarly, 2017
2024
Oil and oil stick on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
For Lucas Arruda, Untitled (from the Deserto Modelo series), 2018, 2024, Ducret chose to use exactly the same technique and even oil paint labels as those the Brazilian artist uses for his paintings, for which he had to look closely at photos of the Brazilian artist in his studio.
Jade Amstel in conversation with Stéphane Ducret talk about his latest My Own Private Museum paintings, 2024 (9 minutes)
“My choice of subjects reflects the state of my personality, my emotional situation at the time I paint them: they speak of the present moment and the importance of living it consciously. Another month, another year, I would have painted other works.”
Stéphane Ducret
Sterling Ruby, Basin Theology, 2013
2024
Oil and oil stick on linen
128 x 98 x 3,5 cm | 50 ⅓ x 38 ⅔ x 1 ⅓ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Franz West, Untitled, 1996
2024
Oil and oil stick on linen
128 x 98 x 3,5 cm | 50 ⅓ x 38 ⅔ x 1 ⅓ inches
The paintings of the My Own Private Museum series question how artists are recognized in an ubiquitous and growing omniscient digital environment.
Stéphane Ducret
Portrait of Rudolf Stingel, 2023-2024
Oil, oil stick and pencil on linen
188 x 138 x 3,5 cm | 74 x 54 ⅓ x 1 ⅓ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Rudolf Stingel, Untitled, 1994)
2024
Oil, oil stick and pencil on linen
128 x 98 x 3,5 cm | 50 ⅓ x 38 ⅔ x 1 ⅓ inches
“For Rudolf Stingel’s portrait, I chose to use a technique similar to his pointillist style of painting self-portraits based on Sam Samore’s photographs, or even when he reappropriated his own work, his Instructions Paintings, that he photographed hanging on the walls of his studio, and then painted to scale.”
Stéphane Ducret : My Own Private Museum (Part 1 : Starting a Collection), solo exhibition, Stéphane Ducret Studio, March 26 - April 7, 2024
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Banksy, Charlie Brown, 2011)
2024
Oil, acrylic and pencil on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
Private collection, Geneva
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Richard Prince, Untitled (cowboy), 1989)
2024
Oil, oil stick and pencil on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
Private collection, Geneva
Stéphane Ducret's work forges links with other appropriation artists such as Elaine Sturtevant, Louise Lawler, Richard Pettibone and Robert Longo. What sets him apart from his predecessors is his interest in the artist's practice, technique and development.
Stéphane Ducret
Louise Bourgeois, Nature Study, 2023
Oil and oil stick on linen
78 x 58 x 3,5 cm | 30 ¾ x 22 ⅞ x 1 ⅓ inches
“I am obsessed with painting and the contemporary history of painting. And I am obsessed with paint and the physicality of paint.”
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Sterling Ruby SP123, 2010, spray paint on canvas)
2024
Oil, oil stick and pencil on linen
218 x 165 x 3,5 cm | 85 ⅞ x 65 x 1 ⅓ inches
“I see my work as a psychological wandering through the art world, a questioning of how we are influenced by recurrence and by the art market driven by powerful figures. In this respect, My Own Private Museum Series is a perfect sequel to the Real Estate series, in which I appropriated leading contemporary artworks and placed them into the context of collectors’ homes:”
Stéphane Ducret
Portrait of Josh Smith, 2023
Oil, oil stick and pencil on linen
188 x 138 x 3,5 cm | 74 x 54 ⅓ x 1 ⅓ inches
Private Collection, Cologny
“The Internet, Google Images, artworks that have become icons… does it make any sense?”
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Thomas Houseago, Mask)
2024
Oil and oil stick on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
Private collection, Geneva
Stéphane Ducret
Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (Pink Cosco VI Mask M40.G), 2016
2024
Oil and oil stick on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
“It’s a bit like drawing a card from a tarot deck: Manzoni’s artist’s shit, Paul McCarthy’s severed head of Charles Bronson, the and eyes blinded by two metal bars, the entrails of Sterling Ruby’s ceramics, Louise Bourgeois’ portrait of the she-wolf made human… they all have to do with how I feel at the moment I paint those works.”
Mistakes are welcome in the process of painting: they enrich the work of art with lively human moments that make imperfections beautiful.
Stéphane Ducret
Piero Manzoni, Merde d’Artiste
2023
Oil and oil stick on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
Frame (natural oak) : 51 x 41 cm | 20 ⅛ x 16 ⅛ inches
Private Collection, Tannay
Stéphane Ducret
Marlène Dumas, Rat
2023
Oil, oil stick & natural pigments on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
Frame (natural oak) : 51 x 41 cm | 20 ⅛ x 16 ⅛ inches
Private Collection, Coppet
“This series of works reflects the intimate relationship I have developed with art, artworks and of course, artists.”
Stéphane Ducret
Paul McCarthy, CSSC, Frederic Remington Charles Bronson, 2014–16, 2023
Oil and oil stick on linen
128 x 98 x 3,5 cm | 50 ⅓ x 38 ⅔ x 1 ⅓ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Net, 1959, 2023-2024
Oil and oil stick on linen
48 x 38 x 3,5 cm | 18 ⅞ x 15 x 1 ⅓ inches
In Sterling Ruby, Basin Theology, 2013, 2024, Franz West, Untitled, 1996, 2024, and other recent works, Ducret fully encompasses the potential of his experimentations with paint, including swiping it, letting it drip, or sometimes throwing it on the canvas like he already did with Paul McCarthy, CSSC, Frederic Remington Charles Bronson, 2014–16, 2023.
“My work is the result of decades of slow, methodical progress, built on struggles, exploration of the self, the authenticity of work as an artist, the exploration of the possibilities of subjects.”
Details of some paintings
The collector and the artist are deeply connected in the way that the latter has this insatiability of creating, while the former always needs more works of arts to own.
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (Colored Butterfly White Background 3 Wings))
2024
Color pencil on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅔ x 9 ⅞ inches
Frame (pinewood): 35 x 28 cm | 13 ⅞ x 11 inches
Private collection, Le Brassus
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Paul McCarthy, Tomato Head (Green), 1994)
2024
Color pencil on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅔ x 9 ⅞ inches
Frame (pinewood): 35 x 28 cm | 13 ⅞ x 11 inches
Private collection, Geneva
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Andy Warhol. Roll of Bills. 1962)
2024
Color pencil on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅔ x 9 ⅞ inches
Frame (pinewood): 35 x 28 cm | 13 ⅞ x 11 inches
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (Bruce Nauman, Studies for Holograms, 1970)
2024
Color pencil on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅔ x 9 ⅞ inches
Frame (pinewood): 35 x 28 cm | 13 ⅞ x 11 inches
Private collection, Collonges-sous-Salève
Stéphane Ducret
Untitled (John Baldessari, Kissing Series, Simone, Palm Trees (Near), 1975)
2024
Color pencil on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅔ x 9 ⅞ inches
Frame (pinewood): 35 x 28 cm | 13 ⅞ x 11 inches
Private collection, Geneva
Stéphane Ducret
Maurizio Cattelan, Comedian, 2019
2023
Oilstick, Charcoal and pencil on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅔ x 9 ⅞ inches
Collection of Hadrien Dussoix, Geneva
Stéphane Ducret
Paul McCarthy, Tree, 2014
2023
Oilstick, Charcoal and pencil on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅔ x 9 ⅞ inches
Private collection, Geneva
“Painting is something that I need to experiment with, and something I feel it’s important to explore as much as possible and to go deeper every day.”