Pottery 1969

Patrick Caulfield made this painting, Pottery, using acrylic on canvas. Just look at that black outline; like drawing, it makes the colours seem flat and separated, but also really punchy, like a stained-glass window. It’s almost too much, so many colours crammed together. The paint isn’t trying to trick you into thinking that these pots are real. The colours are bold, unblended, and the lines are crisp; it's less about depth and more about shape and arrangement. It’s like the visual equivalent of pop music. Do you notice how the negative space is as important as the objects themselves? It's a tightly packed party. Caulfield makes me think of David Hockney, both of them embracing a kind of everyday subject matter. But where Hockney's work feels personal and diaristic, Caulfield’s is more of a cool, detached observation. Art's not always about being serious, sometimes it's just about having fun with colour and form, seeing where things lead.