Still Life: Autumn Fashion 1978

Patrick Caulfield’s ‘Still Life: Autumn Fashion’ is a painting that feels like walking into a room from a dream, rendered with oil and that bold, graphic sensibility. The colours – these earthy greens and browns against vibrant oranges - feel plucked right from a 70s fashion spread, don’t they? Caulfield was all about flat surfaces and sharp outlines. Look at the leeks in that basket. The paint is applied so evenly, it's almost like a print. But it’s the black outlines that really grab you, enclosing everything in a firm embrace, which is so confident, yet also kind of funny, especially with the wallpaper, which clashes in a way that feels totally deliberate. It's like he's saying, "Here's a painting, but it's also a joke." Caulfield reminds me a bit of David Hockney, another Brit who loved playing with space and colour, but Caulfield's got this edge, a kind of pop art seriousness that keeps you guessing. Art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth, and Caulfield's definitely got something to say here, even if it’s wrapped in a bit of stylish ambiguity.