Patrick Caulfield - Sketch

Similar piece was Acquired by the British Museum, London

Drawn in 2003, this work shows that Patrick Caulfield’s draughtsmanship remained as sharp as ever, even during the final months of his life. Following a major operation for cancer diagnosed in late 2002, Caulfield created only a handful of pencil drawings—small in scale, but unmistakably his. As his friend, art historian Marco Livingstone, noted: it took more than a year before he felt strong enough to return to painting.

The jug motif was a recurring presence in Caulfield’s work—appearing both as standalone subjects and as elements within larger still lifes. It featured prominently in his graphic output, including a bold series of screenprints made between 1981 and 1983.