Patrick Caulfield

Pottery

1969

© The estate of Patrick Caulfield

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Not on display

Artist: Patrick Caulfield 1936–2005
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 2134 × 1524 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by Mrs H.K. Morton through the Contemporary Art Society 1969
Reference: T01134

Display caption

The pottery objects in this painting have been depicted from different viewpoints depending on their situation in the overall composition. Thus those near the bottom of the image are painted as though seen from a point somewhere above, those near the centre appear to be viewed from eye level and those towards the top of the canvas are shown from below. This device emphasises the overall effect of the stacking up of a large number of similar objects. The simple black outlines and strong colours are characteristic of much of Caulfield's work. The artist has written of this painting that it 'was an excuse for me to use a lot of colour'.

Gallery label, September 2004

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Catalogue entry

Patrick Caulfield b. 1936
T01134 POTTERY 1969

Inscribed ‘POTTERY PATRICK CAULFIELD 3.1969’ on canvas turnover, and similarly on stretcher.
Canvas, 84×60 (213.5×152.5).

Purchased out of funds bequeathed by Mrs H K Morton through the Contemporary Art Society 1969.
Exh: Pop Art, Hayward Gallery, July–September 1969 (165).

The artist wrote (18 June 1970): ' “Pottery” was an excuse for me to use a lot of colour. It is not a subject that I have experienced or seen in someone's work (I have never seen [William Nicholson's] “The Hundred Jugs”), it is simply an extravagant elaboration of the pottery still lifes that I had done previously. It should be hung so that the pots described as at eye level are at eye level...

‘Apart from a few tracings there are no drawings for it.’

Asked in what way he considered that T01134 differed from the paintings, of somewhat contrasting appearance, which almost immediately followed it, the artist added: ‘The paintings in my last show (Waddington Galleries, October 1969) were much more to do with experiences. The elaboration in them was contradicted by the simplicity of the colours. In this respect I think “Inside a Swiss Chalet” was the most successful’.

Published in:
The Tate Gallery 1968-70, London 1970