Lot 147
  • 147

SIR WILLIAM NICHOLSON | Shingle Street

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
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Description

  • William Nicholson
  • Shingle Street
  • oil on canvasboard
  • 29.5 by 40cm., 11¾ by 15½in.
  • Executed circa 1907.

Provenance

George Crawley, and thence by descent
Sotheby's, Pulborough, 25 October 1994, lot 351 
Jonathan Clark Fine Art, London
Stephen Somerville 
Private Collection, UK
Bonhams, London, 10 June 2015, lot 50

Exhibited

London, The Fine Art Society, Counterpoint: Modern Realism 1910-1950, 6 - 26 May 2016, no.10, illustrated

Literature

Patricia Reed, William Nicholson: a Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, London, 2011, p.127, no.114, illustrated

Condition

The canvasboard appears to be sound. There is some evidence of incredibly fine lines of reticulation in areas in the canvas, in particular in the building in the centre of the lower third, however these are only visible upon extremely close inspection. There appears to be some evidence of retouching visible to the naked eye, in the upper left quadrant and in the extreme upper left corner, with one or two tiny possible instances elsewhere. There is some evidence of studio matter and detritus. This excepting the work appears to be in very good overall condition. Inspection under ultra violet light confirms the presence of the aforementioned retouchings in the upper left quadrant and also reveals scattered areas of sensitively executed areas of retouching elsewhere, in areas of the sky and in the foreground, and some retouching to address some minor frame abrasion. The work is held within a carved gilt wood 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."

Catalogue Note

The present scene is a view of Shingle Street, near Hollesley bay in Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of Orford Ness between Orford and Bawdsey. The Martello tower built in the early 19th century can be seen on the left.

We are grateful to Patricia Reed for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work. Nicholson was one of the most significant artists of his generation, distinctive and highly original in his visual language and approach to painting and he became a modernist master whilst working with traditional subject matter.

 

Nicholson’s painting bears greatest stylistic correlation to the artists most diligently studied in England during his training in the 1890s - Whistler, Manet and Corot - yet his modernity and identity is highly personal and distinct, looking forward as well as back.  Indeed, the particular timbre of Nicholson’s work was admired by modernist artists and can be clearly traced in the evolution of twentieth-century art, alongside early modernists such as Cézanne, Bonnard and Morandi.

 

The present work is entirely typical of Nicholson’s majestic landscapes and evokes his very best work. As clouds gently roll into the scene, soon to overcome the sandy windswept vista, small houses ornament the horizon, delicately perched between the two worlds; the fragility of the scene is expressed through beautifully textured, layered brushstrokes. As the scene is fragmented into three compositional bands the broad planes of colour precipitate the fragmentation of tones that were to dominate modernist painting and beyond into the middle of the 20th century.