Kitchen 1965

John Bratby's 'Kitchen' is a densely painted scene, with thick impasto strokes in a muted yet vibrant palette of creams, blues and reds. I can almost imagine Bratby standing before the canvas, troweling on these layers, building up this view of the quotidian. The texture of the paint is so important here. The strokes are so physical they are practically sculptural. Look at the figure on the left, the one in the wicker chair, and how the colors blend to make a face. What was Bratby thinking as he shaped those features? There is an urgency here, a sense of wanting to capture everything all at once. You can almost see him wrestling with the paint, trying to make it do what he wants. I see echoes of Auerbach's heavily worked surfaces and maybe a bit of Bomberg’s raw energy too. We're all drawing from the same well, aren't we? This painting reminds us that art is really just an ongoing conversation, and these material gestures allow us to engage with painting in a deeply personal way.