Patrick Caulfield
"One's always been taught in art school that all relationships and colours should blend, affected by one light. But that can make for very dull painting. Does nature blend?"
Caulfield was a painter and printmaker known for his reductive and streamlined use of line and saturated colour. He came to prominence in the mid-1960s after studying at the Royal College of Art where fellow students included David Hockney and Allen Jones. His subject matter draws more from the masters of modern art such as Georges Braque, Juan Gris and Fernand Léger than from the consumer culture that preoccupied his colleagues.
He was introduced to the screenprinting technique by fellow artist Richard Hamilton and printer Chris Prater in 1964. The smooth, flawless finish inherent to the process was a perfect conduit for his artistic sensibilities, and he remained dedicated to it for many decades.
He was the subject of major museum exhibitions throughout his career and he was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1987. Collectors of Caulfield's screenprints are in good company; the Tate has a complete set of every print that the artist produced between 1964 and 1999.
