PATRICK CAULFIELD CBE RA (BRITISH 1936-2005)
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon vues de Derrière [Cristea 90]
1999
signed and numbered 41/65 in pencil
screenprint in colours on wove
printed by Advanced Graphics, published by Alan Cristea Gallery, London
image 105.4 x 91.2cm
framed
ARR

Reference: see Tate Britain, accession number P78309 for another example of this edition.

Note: Patrick Caulfield born in West London in 1936 was a painter and printmaker. He attended Chelsea School of Art and went on to the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1963. He was a skilled student and won prizes to make trips to Greece and Crete where he was inspired by the bright hard colours of the countries. Caulfield's practice is strongly tied to Pop Art as his characteristic style features bold colour, flat textures and strong lines. Caulfield's work is generally figurative, featuring pared down depictions of everyday life and objects.

Caulfield opts for flat bright colours over intricate detail and shadow, and many of his early works use household gloss paint to emphasise the lack of texture. The flatness of his aesthetic lends itself well to print making. Caulfield favoured screenprinting, where the thick and often glossy inks produce strong flat images. Over his career he produced over 100 editioned prints, and his entire print catalogue can be found in the Tate's collection.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon vues de Derrière is a reversed interpretation of Pablo Picasso's renowned oil 'Les demoiselles d'Avignon'. Caulfield has reproduced existing paintings throughout his career, most well known is his re-interpretation of Delacroix's Greece Expiring on the Ruins of Missolonghi, his paintings are intended to emphasise the image rather than replication as a study.
This work is a visual pun on the screenprinting process, the work depicts Picasso's painting from the reverse, and screenprints are made from reverse images.

This print is an eight colour screenprint, and Caulfield uses his typically bold palette of pink, blue and peach to contrast starkly against the red, black and blue of the figural outlines. The print depicts five women from behind, four stood and one squat with legs splayed, Caulfield's style flattens Picasso's original scene and gives the figures more room to breathe as they appear to sit atop the background. Caulfield often opposed his categorisation as a Pop Artist, instead thinking himself as more of a formal painter. In this print his choices to adjust the original composition and emphasise angularity both draw attention to the formal elements of Picasso's composition whilst the alteration of a known image is a key theme amongst Pop Art.