Real Estate, drawings

Stéphane Ducret's Real Estate 2017-2021 series is part of his ongoing exploration of contemporary life, capitalism, and the changing meanings of artistic and social value. This particular series focuses on “trophy” artworks, examining how they have become vehicles for speculation, commodification, and status display in modern culture.

In this series, Ducret draws parallels between the art world and urban real estate, showing how properties and artworks are bought, traded, and valued more as investments or social representations than as sources of meaning or beauty.

The series reflects on how capital shapes environments — both physical and cultural, transforming creative expression into financial assets.

There is often a deliberate tension between superficial aesthetics and conceptual criticism, with vibrant or formal compositions masking deeper political undertones. This is particularly true in Painting Number 7, where Ducret installs David Hammons' famous African-American flag in the Oval Office of the White House.

Ducret's works in this series generally do not use a recognizable system. Instead, the paintings shift from abstract geometry to architectural forms, landscapes, and layered textures, following their sources and treated with colorful pictorial gestures.

In Real Estate, 2017-2021, Ducret explores cultural displacement and value systems. In doing so, he questions the institutional frameworks of art — galleries, markets, collectors — and how they reflect broader capitalist mechanisms.

In short, this series does not literally deal with architecture or property, but rather uses these ideas as metaphors for the way art and society are constructed, purchased, and inhabited.

The Real Estate series :

2017-2019 : Explore

2020-2021 : Explore

2025 : Explore

Drawings : current page

 
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Stéphane Ducret: Solo Show Number 1, 2021, Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, © Julien Gremaud & Gowen Contemporary

 

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 3 (#jakeanddinoschapman #markgrotjahn)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and Daler Rowney paper collage on Sennelier paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 7 (#gerhardrichter #markgrotjahn)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and Daler Rowney paper collage on Sennelier paper
57 x 47 cm | 22 ⅓ x 18 ½ inches

 

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 14 (#paulmccarthy)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 15 (#paulmccarthy)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches

 

Stéphane Ducret, Drawing Number 15 (#paulmccarthy), 2021 (detail)

 

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 16 (#paulmccarthy)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 4 (#paulmccarthy)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches

 

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 1 (#paulmccarthy)
2020
Oilstick on Arches paper
168 x 152 cm | 66 ⅛ x 59 ⅞ inches

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 6 (#sterlingruby #jeanroyere)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and Daler Rowney paper collage on Sennelier paper
57 x 47 cm | 22 ⅓ x 18 ½ inches

 

Stéphane Ducret: Solo Show Number 1, 2021, Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, © Julien Gremaud & Gowen Contemporary

 

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 13 (#jheronimusbosch)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and Daler Rowney paper collage on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 17 (#jakeanddinoschapman)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches

 

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 18 (#jakeanddinoschapman)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches

 

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 21 (#jakeanddinoschapman)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
57 x 47 cm | 22 ⅓ x 18 ½ inches

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 27 (#jakeanddinoschapman)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅝ x 9 ⅞ inches

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 28 (#jakeanddinoschapman)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and collage on Arches paper
27 x 21,5 cm | 10 ⅝ x 8 ½ inches

 

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 25 (#christopherwool #jonaswood)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and collage on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅝ x 9 ⅞ inches
Private Collection, Geneva

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 26 (#christopherwool #jonaswood)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and collage on Arches paper
32 x 25 cm | 12 ⅝ x 9 ⅞ inches
Private Collection, Geneva

 

The exhibition Solo Show Number 1, Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, March 12 - April 24, is dedicated to my beloved little cat, Mousseline (march 26, 2011 - February 9, 2021)

Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 30 (#mousseline)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Daler Rowney paper
42 x 29,7 cm | 16 ½ x 11 ¾ inches

 

The Real Estate series :

2017-2019 : Explore

2020-2021 : Explore

2025 : Explore

Drawings : current page


Exhibitions with works of this series :

Stéphane Ducret : In Search Of The Lost Self, La Menuiserie, Vandœuvres, Sept 4 - 21, 2025

Stephane Ducret : the true artist helps the world by repeating true artworks, Fondation WRP, Geneva, July 23 - August 1, 2024

Stephane Ducret : Not For Tourists (after Josh Smith), Stéphane Ducret Studio, Pregny-Chambésy, September 16 - October 1, 2023

Stephane Ducret : Solo Show Number 1, Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, March 12 - April 24, 2021

 
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