Fishing Boat at Dungeness, 'RX67' - John Bratby

A raw, textured depiction of a fishing boat at Dungeness, rendered in the characteristic impasto style of British artist John Bratby.

John Bratby, a central figure in the Kitchen Sink Realism movement, applied his characteristic heavy impasto and energetic brushwork to this depiction of a fishing vessel at Dungeness. The work captures the rugged reality of the Kent coast, focusing on the physical presence of the boat as it rests upon the shingle beach. Bratby avoids romanticising the scene, choosing instead to document the weathered textures of the hull and the stark, utilitarian nature of the vessel marked RX67.

The composition is dominated by the vertical lines of the masts, which contrast with the horizontal, textured expanse of the pebble beach in the foreground. Bratby uses a palette of muted greens, blacks, and earthy ochres to convey the atmosphere of the shoreline. His application of paint is thick and tactile, a technique that provides the surface with a sense of weight and immediacy. The sky, rendered in rapid, directional strokes, suggests the blustery conditions often found on this stretch of the English coast.

Bratby gained recognition in the 1950s for his focus on the mundane and the overlooked aspects of daily life. While he is often associated with domestic interiors, his maritime subjects share the same directness and lack of artifice. This print preserves the raw energy of his original oil painting, allowing the viewer to observe the artist's process through the visible layers of pigment. The work functions as a study of form and texture, grounded in the specific geography of Dungeness. It avoids decorative embellishment, presenting the boat as a functional object within a harsh, natural environment. The result is a direct, unadorned observation of a working vessel, typical of Bratby's approach to his subjects during his career.