John Bratby – Kitchen Sink Realism at Plymouth Auction Rooms
A splash of mid-century Expressionism at Plymouth Auction Rooms with an original painting by John Bratby (1928-1992).
In the early 1950s, Bratby founded ‘Kitchen Sink Realism’, an artistic movement that found inspiration in everyday mundane scenes, making use of bright colours and thick impasto to turn practical kitchen utensils into artistic, abstract shapes. Bratby painted a number of Kitchen and Bathroom themed paintings, including three paintings of toilets. Along with the work of Derrick Greaves, Edward Middleditch and Jack Smith, Bratby received a lot of interest from critics, elected to the Academy of Arts in 1971.
Bratby’s subjects usually involved his middle-class family, however in 1967 Paul McCartney, a great collector of Bratby’s work, gave him two hours in Bratby’s studio, resulting in three portraits.
Plymouth Auction Rooms holds a large, archetypal Bratby ‘Kitchen Sink’ painting, measuring 180cm tall. Titled bluntly to the reverse ‘Model with Nailed on Tray-Palette’, Bratby paints his model standing awkwardly, hands clasped, on a tiled floor looking out at us uncomfortably at almost life-size scale. There is no performance, no ceremony. The painting ephemera of palettes and brushes are distorted into abstract shapes.
Inscribed to the reverse and dated ‘6 June 1960’, this piece is an early work by Bratby, however by this time his colourful style of ‘Kitchen Sink Realism’ was established in the art world. The work will feature in our Tony Martin Specialist Sale on the 2nd September, with an estimate of £4,000 - £6,000. The full catalogue will be online soon. In the meantime, if you have any questions please call the saleroom on 01752 254740 or email info@plymouthauctions.co.uk.
