The Enigmatic World of Patrick Caulfield

Overview

TEFAF’s Meet the Experts programs celebrate the expertise of our world-renowned exhibitors, spotlighting exceptional objects and the stories they tell. Discover the vibrant and enigmatic world of celebrated British artist Patrick Caulfield in this Meet the Experts talk with Jacob Twyford of Waddington Custot.

Patrick Caulfield (1936–2005) was a painter and printmaker known for his pared down still lifes and interiors, carefully composed with thick black lines and even fields of color, exemplified in the painting After Work (1978). Often, it is impossible to resolve perspective in his painting, an effect mirrored by the depiction of hidden spaces. Human figures are rarely depicted, but tell-tale signs of human presence abound in Caulfield’s enigmatic world.

While he came to be associated with British Pop art after participating in the Whitechapel Gallery’s The New Generation exhibition in 1964, Caulfield saw himself as a formalist painter working in the tradition of Modern artists such as Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and Matisse. Admired by fellow artists throughout his time, Caulfield worked privately and painstakingly until each picture was fully resolved, leaving nothing to chance. In his later work, he introduced elements of photorealism and trompe-l’œil to further undermine the illusionary power painting.

Biography

Working for over 30 years with Leslie Waddington, Jacob Twyford now runs Waddington Custot under the ownership of French art dealer Stephane Custot. Over the decades, he has developed Waddington Custot’s monumental sculpture program and has worked closely with many major British, European, and American artists, who have shaped modern and contemporary culture with the gallery’s influence and support.