John Bratby has always puzzled me. His work could be good and it could be bad in equal measure. Simply put, the brighter the work the better the piece. I once owned a small Bratby painting and it was an awful piece. Dark as Bratby could be. Consequently, it was almost impossible to sell.

His work was usually large and depicted domestic interiors.

From 1948 to 1950, he studied at Kingston College. Then he was at the Royal College of Art between 1951 and 1954. In 1957 he returned to the Royal College of Art as a tutor.

His best known work, Still Life with CHip Fryer (1956) is now in the Tate.

He was married to the painter Jean Cooke, RA.

Work has been dubbed 'Kitchen Sink School'...Biog. II

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J o h n  B r a t b y