Ben Nicholson, O.M.

Waddington Galleries, London, November 1985

London, Tate Gallery, Ben Nicholson, 13 October 1993 - 9 January 1994, no.13, illustrated in the catalogue, with tour to Musée d'Art Moderne, St Etienne.

The sheet is not laid down. There is some old horizontal creasing along the lower edge with various attendant vertical small nicks and tears, the longest of these measuring 2cm. There is also a small stain at this lower edge near the lower right hand corner, as can be seen in the catalogue illustration. There is also an old crease across the upper right hand corner, another shorter crease near the upper left hand corner and three small tears at the left edge. All of these minor damages appear to be old and the work does not show any sign of recent deterioration. Attractively presented floated behind perspex in a washed wooden box frame in good condition. Ready for the wall. Please note that the sheet is not as spotted as it appears in the catalogue illustration. It is slightly more yellow in tone and the pencil lines are less pronounced.
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This apparently simple drawing demonstrates with great clarity how very early in his career Nicholson had managed to define some essential features of his work that would remain constant for the next five decades.

The still-life theme, initially and unsurprisingly borrowed from his father, and following some varied efforts similar to the older man’s style, was reversed in the mid-1920s, becoming an investigation of the essence of the object rather than a rendition of the same, something that can be seen to develop during his time with Winifred Nicholson, his first wife. In the still-life work of the late 1920s we frequently see Nicholson using pared down combinations of one or two familiar studio objects in a variety of permutations, flattening the forms to render them into their most basic components. Refraining from any attempt to even hint at shading or volume besides the ellipse of their openings, the jug and mug become simply outlines that allow the viewer to conjure up their own idea of colour and texture, the lines of repeated decoration becoming the focus of attention. Whilst during this period, the flattening and overlaying of forms does not automatically offer any sense of abstracting the basic image, this concept would be developed to a much higher degree in the magisterial still-life paintings of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and would remain a central and recognisable identity in Nicholson’s art until his death.

Nicholson’s device of using the white outline of the handle of a mug to suggest depth had appeared slightly earlier, such as in c.1927 (flowers) (Private Collection), and it is also used in the linocuts such as Two Mugs c.1928 (Kettle’s Yard Collection, University of Cambridge).