LONELY

Blotter by Peter Doig in 1993, oil on canvas,

Peter Doig’s painting 'Blotter' won first prize in John Moores 18, 1993. This was a turning point in his career and he was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1994. Doig is now regarded as a leading artist worldwide and Blotter as one of his best works. In 2007 one of his paintings sold at auction for £5.7m, a price that briefly made him Europe’s most expensive living artist. 

The work was painted from a photograph, and shows the artist's brother standing on a frozen pond. The reflection was enhanced by pumping water onto the ice. Of the painting, Doig has said: 

"The title refers to (amongst other things) the notion of one's being absorbed into a place or landscape, and to the process through which the painting developed: soaking paint into the canvas. 

The figure is deliberately shown looking down into the reflection; this is to suggest inward thought, rather than some sort of contemplation of the scene."