Patrick Caulfield

The Alan Cristea Gallery will be holding a retrospective exhibition of Patrick Caulfield's prints. Over 30 works have been selected to represent every aspect of his printmaking career and will date from 1968 right through to his most recent edition entitled, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon Vues de Derriere.

He completed his first print, Ruins, in 1964 as part of the ground-braking ICA portfolio in which 24 artists contributed a print made at Kelpra Studios. It was here that Caulfield was to make all of his prints up to 1987 and was typical of a style and approach to printmaking that had dominated his graphic work ever since. By distilling elements of still life into their simplest form and by using pure line and colour, he created an immaculate and instantly recognisable pictorial style.

On the whole the prints are devoid of human contact. Instead traces of life, such as a discarded napkin or an empty wine bottle, imply a presence and evoke moods and emotions. Caulfield's illustrations to Jules Laforgue's poems exemplify this approach to printmaking. The images, which appear deceptively simple, perfectly mirror the poet's text. In each case a haunting image captures Laforgue's ironic, and at times melancholy, insights into the banality of mundane, commonplace objects.

Caulfield is now recognised as one of the most important British artists and his paintings and prints have influenced generations of younger painters.

The catalogue raisonné, illustrating and documenting every print he has ever made, will also be available. This hardback book will be 96 pages long, with 112 colour illustrations and an extensive essay by Mel Gooding.