London, The Sammy Ofer Centre, London Business School, London|Forward Facing, 26 September 2017 – 18 July 2018;
Hull, Ferens Art Gallery, Reflection: British Art in an Age of Change, 17 August 2019 – 5 January 2020
In this portrait Bratby seems surprised to see himself, as if he’d forgotten quite how many years have passed. His face is lined of course, his hair white and tufty. He doesn’t look pleased to record this transformation, but he records it nevertheless, with a gnarled hand that he has outlined heavily in black as if to lend it strength. Bratby was coming to the end of a long career based around a bold, uncompromising style and gritty subject matter.
