Waddington Custot Galleries is pleased to present a wide-ranging exhibition of Patrick Caulfield’s work.

A selection of his early paintings dating from the 1960s, some on loan from private collections, are displayed alongside large canvases from later periods and also smaller ones; and a series of sketches for many of these in a rare opportunity to see behind-the-scenes of Caulfield’s precisely executed paintings.

The exhibition allows an insight into the development of Caulfield’s working practices: the even black outlines present in his earliest paintings transform into subtle silhouetted areas of colour and texture, situated around photorealist fragments.

The deliberate black framing device in ‘Landscape with Birds’ from 1963 is a precursor to the 80s and 90s paintings, where pools of light and abstract areas of shadow frame the composition. By the 1980s, Caulfield is using relief within his paintings to add further definition to the still-life objects.

In drawing together his work across mediums, the exhibition shows how similar techniques are applied in the different facets of his work: heavily patterned and textured elements in his ‘Wall Plate’ studies for prints from the 1980s relate to the figurative areas in paintings of the same period, such as ‘Engraving’ (1983). A range of preparatory drawings from the 1970s demonstrate how cautiously areas of colour were planned until he achieved the perfectly balanced compositions.

A fully illustrated catalogue with essay by Marco Livingstone will accompany the exhibition.

Waddington Custot Galleries
11 Cork Street
London W1S 3LT United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 78512200
mail@waddingtoncustot.com
www.waddingtoncustot.com

Opening hours
Monday - Friday from 10am to 6pm
Saturday from 10am to 1.30pm