Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 25-November 1, 1999

Volume 28, Number 10

Retrospective exhibit showcases
works of British Pop artist

The Yale Center for British Art will present a major retrospective of the work of Patrick Caulfield, England's foremost Pop artist, Oct. 27-Jan. 9.

The Yale museum is the only place in the United States where the more than 50 paintings in "Patrick Caulfield: A Retrospective" will be on exhibit.

One of the "New Generation" of British painters who rose to prominence during the 1960s in London, Caulfield has been described as one of the most distinctive voices of that era.

"Along with contemporaries David Hockney, R.B. Kitaj, Allen Jones, Bridget Riley, and others, Caulfield took the 'ghastly good taste' out of British painting and gave it a new sparkle, direction and grip on reality -- painting became bright, brilliant, ironic and abstract, deadpan and engaged," says Patrick McCaughey, director of the British Art Center and curator of the exhibition.

Born in London during the 1950s as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism's non-representational art, Pop Art reached its height in North America during the 1960s.

Like other Pop artists, Caulfield used everyday objects in his works. Unlike his contemporaries in New York, however, he did not rely heavily in his works on mass-produced images, such as Campbell's soup cans or Donald Duck cartoons. Instead, Caulfield's images feature such ordinary pictorial themes as stacks of pottery, a pony, chimney pots or the works of Old Masters -- all stripped of details and outlined with the artist's trademark black lines.

In the 1970s, Caulfield expanded his themes and interests, and began a series of images of architectural interiors, ranging from a bleak foyer to a grand entrance court, a Swiss chalet or an exotic bar. He continued to elaborate and expand on these themes over the next two decades.

While Caulfield's painting is almost entirely without the human figure, each work is redolent with an unseen human presence, says McCaughey. For example, Caulfield's works show cafes without diners, banquets without banqueters, offices emptied of workers, glasses of wine and whiskey without drinkers, and kitchens without chefs. "The irony of these paintings is sharp and disturbing: an overwhelming abundance is juxtaposed with an equal sense of bleakness," says. McCaughey.

"Starting out as a Pop artist, Caulfield has developed his style into an ever deepening and more paradoxical commentary on modern life, its mysteries and its promises, its public declarations and its private obsessions," he continues.

While Caulfield has become widely admired and respected in Britain, says McCaughey, "He deserves to be far better known and more widely recognized in the United States. The Yale Center for British Art is mounting this retrospective exhibition in the hope that
it may reestablish Patrick Caulfield's pre-eminent reputation as a contemporary painter in the U.S."

Caulfield himself will be the guest at a master's tea on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 4 p.m. in Jonathan Edwards College, 70 High St. The artist will discuss his paintings in the British Art Center exhibition. The tea is free and open to the public.

A number of other special events have been scheduled in conjunction with "Paul Caulfield: A Retrospective."

Thomas Crow, the Robert Lehman Professor of the History of Art, will lecture on "Patrick Caulfield and British Pop Art" on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 5:15 p.m. at the British Art Center.

On Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 12:30 p.m., McCaughey will lead an informal discussion of Caulfield's work as part of the British Art Center's "Art in Context" program. Michael Lobel, visiting lecturer in the history of art, will present a talk titled "How New York Stole the Idea of Pop Art" on Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 5:15 p.m.

The programs will be held at the British Art Center, and are free and open to the public.

The Caulfield exhibition was organized by the British Council and the Hayward Gallery. Additional support for the exhibition at the Yale museum has been provided by the Friends of British Art.

The Yale Center for British Art is located at 1080 Chapel St. It is open to the public, free of charge, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday, and Sunday noon-5 p.m. The building is wheelchair accessible. For a recorded listing of tours and other weekly events, call (203) 432-2800. For further information, visit the center's website at www.yale.edu/ycba.

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