Sir William Nicholson

Beaux Arts Gallery, London
Sir Hugh Walpole
Anthony Bushell, 1956
Thomas Agnew and Sons, London
Sale, Phillips London, 28 June 1982, lot 21
Browse and Darby, London
Somerville & Simpson Ltd, sold 5 October 1983
Private Collection, U.S.A.

London, Beaux Arts Gallery, Pictures and Drawings by William Nicholson, 30 June - 30 July 1927, no.67;
Glasgow, Alex Reid & Lefevre Ltd., Exhibition of Paintings by William Nicholson, April 1928, no.17;
London, Beaux Arts Gallery, Exhibition of Recent Paintings by William Nicholson, 24 April - 31 May 1929, no.34;
London, Beaux Arts Gallery, Summer Exhibition, 1932, catalogue untraced;
Nottingham, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by William Nicholson, 10 March - 24 April 1933, no.27;
London, Beaux Arts Gallery, Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by William Nicholson, 1 May - 2 June 1933, no.14;
London, Leicester Galleries, The Art Collection of the late Hugh Walpole, 11 April - 8 May 1945, no.71;
London, Browse and Darby, William Nicholson & Ben Nicholson: Paintings and Drawings 1919-1945, 29 June - 30 July 1983, no.6, illustrated in the catalogue.

Creative Art, vol. 4, New York, June 1929, illustrated p.440;
Lillian Browse, William Nicholson, Hart-Davies, London 1956, no.383. 

The edges of the panel are slightly uneven in places, but it is only in two tiny spots along the left edge that this is visible when the work is in the frame. The panel is very slightly bowed. Otherwise the panel is in good overall condition. The paint surface has been scratched by the artist to create a textured surface. It is in good overall condition. Examination under ultra-violet light reveals retouching along the left and right edges where the panel appears to have been held by a smaller frame or slip. There are a few other tiny spots of retouching across the paint surface. Held in a gilded composition 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.
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."

Painted in 1927.

Sotheby's is privileged to be selling property from the Estate of Catherine Gamble Curran beginning on May 1, 2008 with the Print sale in New York and continuing through October with the sale of Nineteenth-Century Paintings. Although well known to Mrs. Curran's wide circle of friends who could often be found at festive gatherings in her apartment on Park Avenue, the full extent of the collection was not easy to take in. Deep in conversation with one of her many friends – museum directors and trustees, curators, dancers, musicians – one might glimpse a drawing by Tiepolo, an exquisite Paul Klee, a Degas pastel or an Indian bronze, but never for very long. For much of her lifetime, Cathie Curran, as she was widely known, purchased works of art wherever she happened to be living at the time. Since at different periods in her life, she lived in Beijing, New Delhi, London and New York it can be imagined that the range of her acquisitions was considerable and such indeed is the case.

Mrs. Curran was born in Beijing in 1926 where her father, Sidney D. Gamble, was associated with the YMCA and Princeton-Yenching. Between 1917 and 1933, he traveled widely throughout China, documenting this troubled period in its history in thousands of memorable photographs. Although she only spent a short period of time in China, the international perspective gained from her parents remained through Mrs. Curran's life. After attending Mount Holyoke, she lived in New Delhi, India from the late 1940s until 1957, moving to London a year later. In 1984, Mrs. Curran moved back to the United States and settled in New York.

One of the unifying themes in the collection is a love of works on paper, including a number of outstanding prints and an exceptional group of Old Master Drawings. Mrs. Curran was especially drawn to great artists of the nineteenth century, but her interests did not end there, as the presence of many strong modernist and even contemporary works of the twentieth century testifies. There is an admirable consistency to the quality of the Curran collection.

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