John Randall Bratby
(1928-1992), Painter and writer; Editor-in-chief of Art QuarterlySitter in 25 portraits
Artist of 3 portraits
Bratby studied at the Royal College of Art (1951-54), and it was for his generation of RCA students that David Sylvester coined the phrase 'Kitchen Sink', to describe the realism of their art. In 1956 he was included in the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and in 1957 won first prize in the Junior Section of the John Moores Liverpool exhibition. Bratby's vigorous realism with its debt to Van Gogh and Soutine went out of fashion in a time of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art in the 60s, during which he wrote the semi-autobiographical Breakdown (1960). In the 1970s he made it his task to paint portraits of 'names', from tycoons and businessmen to television stars. He became a Royal Academician in 1971.
John Randall Bratby; Josephine ('Joey') Pleasence (née Crombie)
by John Randall Bratby
oil on canvas, 1967
NPG 6555
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x31628
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88616
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88617
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88618
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88619
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88620
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88621
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88622
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88623
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88624
John Randall Bratby; David Bratby; Jean Esme Oregon Cooke
by Ida Kar
vintage bromide print, 1959
NPG x88625
John Randall Bratby with his portrait of Lord Pakenham's daughter
by Unknown photographer
gelatin silver print, 3 February 1959
NPG x196116
Jean Esme Oregon Cooke; John Randall Bratby
by Lewis Morley
toned bromide print, 1960s
NPG x125155
by J.S. Lewinski
bromide print on card mount, 1963
NPG x13710
by Godfrey Argent
bromide print, 1 May 1969
NPG x165498
by Godfrey Argent
bromide print, 1 May 1969
NPG x165499
by Godfrey Argent
bromide print, 1 May 1969
NPG x165500
by Bob Collins
bromide fibre print, 1971
NPG x34123
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great-british
23 August 2015, 22:39
The painter Jean Cooke was the artist's first wife: their son together David, also appears in a family portrait.