Sir William Nicholson

Probably Annan's Gallery, Glasgow, October 1917 (exhibition catalogue untraced)
Aitken Dott & Son, Edinburgh
Sale, Christie's, 27 April 1923, lot 23
Sale, Christie's, 7 March 1924, lot 183
Thomas Walter Bacon, for £45, and thence by descent (on loan to The National Trust at Fenton House, Hampstead 1981-2005)
Fine Art Society, London, 2006
Private Collection

Nottingham, Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by William Nicholson, 10 March – 24 April 1933, no.137;
Touring exhibition, Arts Council, Sir William Nicholson Paintings Woodcuts and Lithographs, June – November 1947, no.17.

Lillian Browse, William Nicholson, Hart-Davis, London, 1956, no. 250.

The canvas is in good original condition. There are some scattered areas of minor craquelure across the surface of the painting. Otherwise the paint surface is in good condition. Examination under ultra-violet light reveals a few tiny spots of retouching in the upper right quadrant. Held in a gilded rectilinear frame. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 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.
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Painted in 1916 and executed in the same year as his seminal large scale masterpiece The Hundred Jugs (Coll. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), White Orchids on Books marks a highly important pivotal point in the development of Nicholson's treatment of the still life. The confident and fluid impasto clearly signals his exemplary draughtsmanship and recalls earlier works such as The Lustre Bowl with Green Peas (1911, Coll. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh) where the reflective quality and rich material of the bowl is superlatively captured with a few carefully placed highlights. The dark, subtle tones of The Lustre Bowl immediately draw references to still life subjects from the Dutch 17th Century however, in the present work, Nicholson has infused his trademark handling with an altogether brighter palette bringing a fresh modernity to the traditional genre of the still life. 

As well as colouring, the arrangement of objects appears more informal and is prophetic of later works such as Books and Things (1920, sold in these rooms, 11 December 2006, lot 2), Indian Pinks (c.1928, Coll. Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery) and The Nailsea Jug (c.1935, Private Collection). Although the compositional layout of objects appears informal and spontaneous, closer inspection reveals that this apparent informality is in reality very carefully built up, with the choice of objects and textures balancing each other supremely well. The blue casing of the jug is paired with the vibrant blue hues of the material beneath the block of books which in turn achieves a compositional symmetry with the mass of orchids so that the white petals complement the bold white impasto of the book pages.

In addition, the overall form of the books occupies a space that is almost, but not quite, that of the golden section, and the slightly off centre positioning of the books again adds movement and almost imperceptible imbalance to the composition. Even the shadows are brought into play, with the shadow to the right of the block of books mirroring the shape of the bright blue material diagonally opposite beneath the left side of the books. Although the palette is noticeably brighter than earlier works, the juxtaposition of tonal variations is no less complex and it is a testament to Nicholson's eye for subtle detail that the white orchids provide both complement and contrast to the off-white hues of the backdrop.

We are grateful to Patricia Reed for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.