Ben Nicholson, O.M.

Gimpel Fils, London
F.L.S. Murray
Marlborough New London Gallery, London, 1964
Mr & Mrs Seymour Sher
Sale, Christie's London, 29th March 1982, lot 45
Waddington Galleries, London, where acquired by the present owner

Zurich, Galerie Charles Lienhard, Ben Nicholson, January - February 1959, cat. no.23;
Hannover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Ben Nicholson, 26th February – 5th April 1959, cat. no.43, illustrated, with tour to Stadtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim Kunstverein, Hamburg and Museum Folkwang, Essen.

J.P. Hodin, Ben Nicholson: the Meaning of his Art, Alex Tiranti, London, 1957, illustrated fig.46.

Unexamined out of Artist's frame. The varnish appears to be lifting very slightly to the light blue, blue and pink areas, only really visible in raking light and under very close inspection. The work appears in very good overall condition, with strong pencil and colours throughout. Ultraviolet light reveals no obvious signs of fluorescence or retouchings. Housed behind glass in a thin, varnished wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

We are grateful to Lee Beard for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

Following in his father’s tradition, the still life was a major pre-occupation with Nicholson. The subject of still life presented a design around which Nicholson could explore line, form and colour and experiment further with ideas of abstraction and cubism. The present work displays many of the hallmarks of Nicholson’s wonderfully dynamic still life subjects from the 1950s. Nicholson’s still life paintings from this period contain a bright palette with a greater emphasis on linear movement and rich surface textures. Nicholson’s finely rendered pencil line flows with rhythm across the work delicately indicating the shifting surface on which fragmented forms of the still life are barely discernible. The solidly coloured blocks of reds, blues and black are contrasted against the exposed areas of the lightly textured and transparent background and the patterns of the fragmented forms generate a rhythmic and lyrical sense of movement to the work.

Steven Nash comments on his works of this period: 'These paintings would be impossible without the prior discoveries of Cubism, and perhaps of all the Cubist painters, Juan Gris offers in his work the closest comparisons; Nicholson transformed the Cubist vocabulary, however, into a personal mode of expression more abstract, airy and lyrical’ (Steven A. Nash, Ben Nicholson, Fifty Creative Years of His Art, New York, 1978, p. 83). These still life subjects from the 1940s and 1950s helped establish Nicholson’s reputation as an international contemporary artist.