Sweet Bowl 1967

Patrick Caulfield gave us 'Sweet Bowl' with graphic precision and bold color. The whole image is caught in a dance between the solid blue of the bowl and table and the vibrant colors of the sweets it contains. I'm wondering if Caulfield started with loose sketches, intuitively building the scene before solidifying it with these confident black outlines? He might have been thinking about pop art, and how to isolate everyday objects, rendering them new through color and form. Look at how the shadows are made with lines - so economical! It feels like the sweets are little architectural blocks, each contributing to the overall structure, the same as in a Giorgio Morandi painting. 'Sweet Bowl' is also a nod to how artists riff off one another across time, using a common language of art making to speak to each other. Painting is a conversation, where meanings emerge through layers of interpretation.