Untitled
- Artist: Peter Doig
- Date: 2008
- Medium: Oil paint on paper
- Dimensions: support: 505 x 685 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Untitled” by Peter Doig. It’s a small oil‑on‑paper piece, just over 20 by 27 inches, painted in 2008. The work is a quiet snapshot of everyday life, featuring a lone adult man in a relaxed pose that hints at sport or a casual game—think table tennis, with a bat and a ball in play. Doig’s palette is muted but evocative, using soft washes to suggest light and distance, while the paper surface gives the image a subtle texture that feels almost tangible.
The painting was presented by the artist in 2013 and has journeyed through a few notable shows. It was part of the “No Foreign Lands” loan from 2013 to 2014, first seen in Edinburgh’s Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and then in Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts. Most recently it appeared in the 2025 “Painting the Figure in the 21st Century” exhibition.
What makes this piece intriguing is how it blends everyday leisure with a sense of quiet observation, inviting you to pause and imagine the story behind the table tennis bat.
See it in person
Untitled is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
