Holyland 1961

John Bratby made "Holyland" in 1961 with thick paint pushed around to create an image of a table piled high with fruit. Look how he's used greens and yellows, with accents of orange and white, and raw dark outlines to define the still life. I can imagine him standing there, bristles splayed, really getting into it - trying to capture the overwhelming feeling of abundance. The paint is thick and juicy, almost as if the painting itself is edible. See that halved melon, and how Bratby has laid the paint on so heavily, you can almost feel the weight of it. Maybe he was thinking about Van Gogh, another painter who wasn't afraid to lay it on thick. There's something about that kind of honesty that just grabs you. Bratby's paintings always have this raw energy, this feeling of a world overflowing with stuff. You feel that he wants to capture everything with his brush. And, like all painters, he’s in conversation with other artists across time. That's the beauty of painting - it's never really finished. It lives on and continues to inspire.