FAMAG 1998.1
A late nineteenth-/early twentieth-century Continental architrave frame; fluted frieze with step and two reeds to sight; small sight moulding; finished in stone-coloured paint with white sight edge; supplied by Paul Mitchell Limited (r).
About this work
view without frame
Bratby, John Randall RA (1928-1992): Portrait of Dr A.L.Rowse, signed, oil on canvas, 46 x 36 cms. Presented by the Executors of the Estate of A.L.Rowse in 1998. Bequest.
More information about the frame
Bratby advised artists never to let their clients choose their own frames − advice he did not always follow himself! He lived in an era that embraced the ultimate radical idea in framing ? to have no frame at all. Bratby took the trouble to paste anti-framing instructions on the back of his pictures, explaining his attitude: ?Ideally there should be no frame...the pictures are, in most cases designed to the furthest extent of the picture-surface, and encroachment, however small it may be, will impair the artist?s pristine visual concept.?
However, Bratby?s attitude to framing and to the sitter?s own preferences was inconsistent. The frame featured here on the portrait of Dr A. L. Rowse was much admired by the artist and art critic Peter Davies, author of Bratby, 2002. Davies commented: ?The linear and chromatic intensity of Bratby?s image making powers so evident in the contrasting greens and reds of the Rowse portrait calls for a similarly imposing frame. The frame does not, however, detract from, or compete with, the picture. The linear sequences of the frame has an art deco, rather than modern or minimalist, aspect; the unobtrusive beige colour is restful to the eye and allows the full power and glories of the celebrated ?kitchen sink? school painter?s palette to emerge.?
About the Artist
Bratby was born in London and studies at Kingston School of Art followed by the Royal College of Art. He taught at Carlisle College of Art then Royal College of Art. He represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1956, and gained the Guggenheim Award. He wrote his first novel 'Breakdown' in 1960 and was elected RA in 1971. He is remembered as the leading exponent of the so-called 'kitchen sink' school of painting, applying the paint directly from the tube like toothpaste giving rise to the jibe 'tubism'