Ben Nicholson, O.M.

Given by the artist to Grace Harvey
Richard Green, London
Offer Waterman, London
Private Collection, UK

The work is on card which appears to have bowed very slightly. A strand of card is coming away from the sheet slightly on the right edge in the upper right quadrant. The edges of the paint surface appear slightly dirty but otherwise it is in good overall condition. There is no sign of retouching under ultra-violet light. Held behind glass in a simple box frame. A perspex backing protects the work and allows the viewer to see the signature and inscriptions on the reverse.
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The present painting, like the previous lot, belongs to a period of Nicholson's career when the new influences of his life in Cornwall were melding with the international modernism of the pre-war years.

Almost immediately on his arrival in Cornwall, a more landscape-influenced palette begins to become apparent, and although the present work is very clearly a purely non-referential abstract composition, comparison with the other variants does reveal this process in action. This composition exists in at least nine variants on differing scales and in various media, the two best-known and largest being 1940-42 (two forms) (Southampton City Art Gallery) and 1940-43 (two forms) (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff). Whilst the basic forms remain constant, Nicholson's subtle variations in colour and proportion keep this unmistakeably modernist image fresh. However, we may already be seeing the influence of his surroundings coming into play, with Norbert Lynton finding the horizontal division of the background to the composition clearly indicative of a '...sand, sea and sky effect...' (Norbert Lynton, Ben Nicholson, Phaidon, London 1993, pp.181-186) and whilst the colours themselves are not ones that are unknown to Nicholson, their combination and the thought he expends on their relationships must reflect the importance that colour assumed for him immediately on his arrival in Cornwall. His earliest letters are filled with references to the colours around him, and the greys, blues, whites and reddish browns he mentions all appear prominently in the paintings of this period.

We are grateful to Sir Alan Bowness for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.