Bratby, John Randall (1928-1992), was a British painter best known for his realistic pictures of domestic scenes. In the 1950’s, Bratby and several other British artists belonged to a group called the Kitchen Sink School. The group concentrated on painting dreary working-class subjects. Typical examples include Bratby’s Dustbins and his Still Life with Chip Fryer (both 1954). Despite their drab subject matter, Bratby’s Kitchen Sink pictures are painted in a bold style that stressed strong colors and the thick application of paint. Bratby was also known for his portraits of British celebrities in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. These portraits developed into a series called the Hall of Fame.
Bratby was born on July 19, 1928, in Wimbledon, London, and studied painting at the Royal College of Art from 1951 to 1954. From 1953 to 1977, Bratby was married to the British artist Jean Cooke. The two often portrayed each other in their paintings. Bratby painted the pictures featured in The Horse’s Mouth (1959), a motion picture about an eccentric British artist that starred Alec Guinness. Bratby also wrote a novel, Breakdown (1960). He died on July 20, 1992.
