John Moores Painting Prize
In 1959, William Scott was awarded first prize in the British Painters section of the John Moores’ exhibition, held at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, for his large painting Blue Abstract. A critic writing in The Guardian told his readers that the painting, ‘burns under a ceramic-like surface like a window into a world of serene blue magic. It is a painting into which the mind and the eye must move and when it has captured them it offers mystery as a reward.’
Following the exhibition, the painting was bought by the Walker Art Gallery and remains in their permanent collection.