Summary
In such paintings as After Lunch 1975 (Tate T02033) Patrick Caulfield's investigation into the nature of pictorial representation was staged within a highly contrived but spatially logical composition. However, during the mid to late 1980s, as is evident in Interior with a Picture, the stabilising element of rational pictorial space was discarded, and varied textures and a uniformly warm palette were introduced.
The black descriptive line, which had been the primary means of defining form and space in earlier paintings, is used sparingly in Interior with a Picture. In fact, only the corner of the corridor, the dado-rail and the banister are described by a black line. For most of the picture Caulfield uses flat blocks of colour to suggest form and space. The juxtaposition of these two styles contributes to the uncertainty surrounding the relationship of the staircase to the rest of the interior, the position of the still-life painting in relation to the wall, and the precise arrangement of the floor level… (read more)
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