'Blotter', Peter Doig, 1993

Oil on canvas, 249 x 199cm

Accession Number WAG1993.81

'Blotter' won the first prize in the 1993 John Moores exhibition.

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.