Bob Barker | A return to yesterday

Featured art: 'A Bit More Gravy' by Bob Barker. Limited edition giclee on canvas, £725.

Remembering a collector

Bob's new piece 'A Bit More Gravy' (available as a hand-varnished boxed canvas and a hand-varnished giclee on canvas) was inspired by Lee Bradbury, an avid collector of his work, who had a long-held dream of Bob painting a piece showing the nostalgic memory of friends playing football on the streets. Fortunately, Bob had been developing a similar idea, continuing the narrative seen earlier in 'Gravy Boys' and 'Chips and Gravy' showing children playing outside by the warm light of a chip shop. Sadly, Lee unexpectedly passed away earlier this year at the age of just 40, never getting to see the piece he had longed to see become a limited edition, so we are releasing this piece in memory of Lee's passion for Bob's paintings.

Family and friends

The other new pieces from Bob's autumn 2022 From Yesterday to Here collection have connections to his youth and his family. 'The Whole Gang' sees a group of friends gathered around a gas lamp, as they used to when Bob was a teenager. 'Loving It' is a romantic work featuring Bob's signature couple with umbrellas enjoying each other's company as they head off into the light. 'Every Sometime Day', a little girl looking out onto a darkened street, is a based on Bob's granddaughter trying to explain that her mother puts her hair into a French plait on some days and not others.