WIDMORE GALLERY

John Bratby was born on 19 July 1928 in Wimbledon, south-west London.  Between 1949 and 1950, he studied art at Kingston College of Art. He then began attending the Royal College of Art, completing his studies in 1954. He painted landscapes, still lifes, portraits and figure compositions, and had his first solo exhibition that year at London's Beaux Arts Gallery.

Bratby is considered the founder of kitchen sink realism, a movement in which artists use everyday objects, like trash cans and beer bottles as subjects of their works, which are often thickly-laden portraits or paintings. It began in the early 1950s and has been considered an aspect of John Osborne's "Angry Young Men" movement. Artists Derrick Greaves, Edward Middleditch and Jack Smith were also active in the development of the movement. Bratby often painted with bright colours, capturing his middle-class family's daily lives. Bratby painted several kitchen subjects, often turning practical utensils such as sieves and spoons into semi-abstract shapes. He also painted bathrooms, and made three paintings of toilets.

As he matured, Bratby's works became "lighter and more exuberant". During his career, Bratby promoted himself on television and the radio and was one of his generation's best-known artists.

Bratby was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1971.