Ben Nicholson

Waddington Galleries, London
James Kirkman, London (acquired from the above)
Gallery Kasahara, Osaka (acquired from the above in 1977)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

London, Lefevre Gallery, Ben Nicholson, 1950, no. 4
Osaka, Gallery Kasahara, Ben Nicholson, 1977

The boards are stable. There are two short vertical hairlines of retouching towards the upper left corner. As part of the artist's process the paint surface has been textured and worked resulting in avaried surface including some scratching and pitting. Some of these variations flouresces under UV light. There are few minor abrasions along the extreme edges and some surface dirt in areas. Otherwise this work is in good condition. Colours: The colours in the printed catalogue are fairly accurate. The greys a slightly cooler in the original.
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Finding himself in front of his pre-war 'constructive' works in 1949, Ben Nicholson admitted that 'I get quite a shock from seeing this nowadays- it is such a totally different world, 1936 from 1949, a difference one could not have imagined in one's wildest dreams" (Jeremy Lewinson, Ben Nicholson, London, 1993, p. 62). The present work is a wonderful example of his post war artistic development; from the cold and rather austere pre-war clarity to a much richer and more nuanced surface. The delicate lines don't compete, instead weaving together with ease: harmonious but individual, much like a pair of lovers.

Romeo and Juliet is a remarkable example of Nicholson's exploration of the still-life genre; he was primarily interested in the interaction between abstraction and the visual reality that they represent. It is tempting to give the title importance, but it immediately calls to mind Nicholson's admonition that titles are 'literature, not painting' and are 'merely a tag'. Steven A. Nash writes that 'while a title may well reflect certain associations that were part of Nicholson's experience of making a particular painting, these are generally beyond the reach of interpretation' (Stephen A. Nash, Ben Nicholson: Fifty Years of His Art, Albright –Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1978, p. 94). The elegance of the composition leads the eyes into a rhythmic dance across the picture plane, conducted by the vibrant crimson at the centre.  Perhaps the most striking element, however,  is the highly worked surface, with its many layers of paint applied, only to be scraped back, rubbed and polished, until the whole scheme becomes a dialogue, not just between forms, but also shadow and light, recession and progression.