Braque Curtain 2005

Patrick Caulfield made "Braque Curtain" using oil paint and screenprint. Caulfield, who lived through the austerity and cultural shifts of post-war Britain, often explored themes of everyday life, and the way social and personal identity is constructed through domestic spaces. Here, the painting evokes a sense of quiet, almost melancholic domesticity. Caulfield's use of flat planes and bold colors is a direct dialogue with the history of modernism, particularly the work of Braque, while he subverts traditional representations of interior scenes. The curtain, a liminal space, suggests a division between the public and private realms. Caulfield once said, "I like the idea of using cheap materials to make something that looks expensive." This resonates with the experience of post-war Britain, where there was a desire to create beauty and value, even amidst scarcity. Through its stark simplicity and vivid hues, the painting reflects the complexities of identity, and the beauty one can find in the mundane.