!['1934 (relief)' by Ben Nicholson, Tate Modern](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/%271934_%28relief%29%27_by_Ben_Nicholson%2C_Tate_Modern.JPG)
Benjamin Lauder Nicholson,
OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of
abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life.
Background and training
Nicholson was born on 10 April 1894 in
Denham, Buckinghamshire
Denham is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, approximately from central London, northwest of Uxbridge and just north of junction 1 of the M40 motorway. The name is derived from the Old English for ...
, the son of the painters
Sir William Nicholson and
Mabel Pryde
Mabel Scott Lauder Pryde (12 February 1871 – July 1918) was a Scottish artist, the wife of artist William Nicholson, and the mother of artists Ben Nicholson and Nancy Nicholson and the architect Christopher 'Kit' Nicholson.
Life
She was ...
, and brother of the artist
Nancy Nicholson, the architect
Christopher Nicholson and to Anthony Nicholson. His maternal grandmother Barbara Pryde (née Lauder) was a niece of the famous artist brothers
Robert Scott Lauder
Robert Scott Lauder (25 June 1803 – 21 April 1869) was a Scottish artist who described himself as a "historical painter". He was one of the original members of the Royal Scottish Academy.
Life and work
Lauder was born at Silvermills, E ...
and
James Eckford Lauder
James Eckford Lauder (15 August 1811 in Edinburgh – 27 March 1869 in Edinburgh) was a notable mid- Victorian Scottish artist, famous for both portraits and historical pictures.
Life and work
A younger brother of artist Robert Scott Laud ...
. The family moved to London in 1896. Nicholson was educated at Tyttenhangar Lodge Preparatory School,
Seaford, at Heddon Court,
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
and then as a boarder at
Gresham's School
Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
,
Holt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town has a population of 3,550, rising and including the ward to ...
. He trained as an artist in London at the
Slade School of Fine Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
between 1910 and 1911, where he was a contemporary of
Paul Nash,
Stanley Spencer
Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if in Cookham, the small ...
,
Mark Gertler, and
Edward Wadsworth
Edward Alexander Wadsworth (29 October 1889 – 21 June 1949) was an English artist, closely associated with modernist Vorticism movement. He painted coastal views, abstracts, portraits and still-life in tempera medium and works printed using ...
. According to Nash, with whom he formed a close friendship, Nicholson spent more time during his year at the Slade playing billiards than painting or drawing, since the abstract formality of the green baize and the constantly changing relationships of the balls were, he later claimed, of more appeal to his aesthetic sense.
Nicholson was married three times. His first marriage was to the painter
Winifred Roberts; it took place on 5 November 1920 at
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
Church, London. Nicholson and Winifred had three children: a son, Jake, in June 1927; a daughter,
Kate Kate name may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
* Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer
* Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...
(who later also became a painter), in July 1929; and a son, Andrew, in September 1931. They were divorced in 1938. His second marriage was to fellow artist
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
on 17 November 1938 at Hampstead Register Office. Nicholson and Hepworth had triplets, two daughters, Sarah and Rachel, and a son,
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
, in 1934. They were divorced in 1951. The third and final marriage was to
Felicitas Vogler
In ancient Roman culture, ''felicitas'' (from the Latin adjective ''felix'', "fruitful, blessed, happy, lucky") is a condition of divinely inspired productivity, blessedness, or happiness. ''Felicitas'' could encompass both a woman's fertility an ...
, a German photographer. They married in July 1957 and divorced in 1977.
Life and works
![Ben Nicholson O](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Ben_Nicholson_O.M._1894-1982_artist_lived_and_died_here.jpg)
Nicholson's first notable work was following a meeting with the playwright
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...
on holiday in
Rustington
Rustington is a small town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex. Rustington is approximately at the midpoint of the West Sussex coast and midway between the county town of Chichester and Brighton. The A259 runs along the north ...
,
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
, in 1904. As a result of this meeting, Barrie used a drawing by Nicholson as the base for a poster for the play ''
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
''; his father William designed some of the sets and costumes.
Nicholson was exempted from
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
military service due to asthma. He travelled to New York in 1917 for an operation on his tonsils, then visited other American cities, returning to Britain in 1918. Before he returned, Nicholson's mother died in July of influenza and his brother Anthony Nicholson was killed in action.
From 1920 to 1933, he was married to the painter
Winifred Nicholson
''From Bedroom Window, Bankshead'', date unknown, private collection.
Typical of Nicholson's impressionist work, combining still life with landscape.
Rosa Winifred Nicholson (née Roberts; 21 December 1893 – 5 March 1981) was a British p ...
and lived in London. After Nicholson's first exhibition of figurative works in London in 1922, his work began to be influenced by Synthetic
Cubism
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
, and later by the primitive style of
Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
. In 1926, he became chair of the
Seven and Five Society
The Seven and Five Society was an art group of seven painters and five sculptors created in 1919 and based in London.
The group was originally intended to encompass traditional, conservative artistic sensibilities. The first exhibition catalogue s ...
.
In London, Nicholson met the sculptors
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
(to whom he was married from 1938 to 1951) and
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
. On visits to Paris, he met
Mondrian, whose work in the
neoplastic
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
style was to influence him in an abstract direction, and
Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
, whose
cubism
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
would also find its way into his work. His gift, however, was the ability to incorporate these European trends into a new style that was recognizably his own. He first visited
St Ives,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, in 1928 with his fellow painter
Christopher Wood, where he met the fisherman and painter,
Alfred Wallis
Alfred Wallis (18 August 1855 – 29 August 1942) was a British fisherman and artist known for his port landscapes and shipping scenes painted in a naïve style. Having no artistic training, he began painting at the age of 70, using househol ...
. In Paris in 1933, he made his first wood relief, ''White Relief'', which contained only right angles and circles. In 1937, he was one of the editors of ''
Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...
'', an influential monograph on
constructivism
Constructivism may refer to:
Art and architecture
* Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes
* Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...
. He believed that abstract art should be enjoyed by the general public, as shown by the Nicholson Wall, a
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
he created for the garden of Sutton Place in
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
. Nicholson moved to St Ives in 1939 living at Trezion, Salubrious Place, for 19 years. In 1943, he joined the
St Ives Society of Artists. In 1951 he and Barbara Hepworth divorced.
He won the prestigious
Carnegie Prize
The Carnegie Prize is an international art prize awarded by the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It currently consists of a $10,000 cash prize accompanied by a gold medal.
History
The Carnegie Prize was established in 1896, to ...
in 1952 and in 1955 a retrospective exhibition of his work was shown at the
Tate Gallery
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
in London. In 1956, he won the first Guggenheim International painting prize and in 1957 the international prize for painting at the
Sao Paulo Art Biennial.
Nicholson married the photographer Felicitas Vogler in 1957 and moved to
Castagnola, Switzerland, in 1958. In 1968, he received the British
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
(OM). In 1971, he separated from Vogler and moved to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
. In 1977, they divorced.
Nicholson's last home was in Pilgrim's Lane,
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
. He died there on 6 February 1982 and was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium
Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...
on 12 February 1982.
[
Some of Nicholson's works can be seen at the Tate Gallery, ]Tate St Ives
Tate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England, exhibiting work by modern British artists with links to the St Ives area. The Tate also took over management of another museum in the town, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture ...
, Kettle's Yard
Kettle's Yard is an art gallery and house in Cambridge, England. The director of the art gallery is Andrew Nairne. Both the house and gallery reopened in February 2018 after an expansion of the facilities.
Kettle's Yard galleries, shop and caf ...
Art Gallery in Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, The Hepworth Wakefield
The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born a ...
, Pallant House Gallery
Pallant House Gallery is an art gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It houses one of the best collections of 20th-century British art in the world.
History
The Gallery's collection is founded on works left to the city of Chichester by ...
in Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
and the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness
Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital.
E ...
, Orkney. An auction record for this artist of $1,650,500 was set at Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
, New York, for ''Sept 53 (Balearic)'', an oil and pencil on canvas, on 1 November 2011.[ His painting ''Fiddle and Spanish Guitar'', in oil and gravel on ]masonite
Masonite is a type of hardboard, a kind of engineered wood, which is made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood fibers in a process patented by William H. Mason. It is also called Quartrboard, Isorel, hernit, karlit, torex, treetex, and pr ...
, was sold for €3,313,000 by Christie's in Paris on 27 September 2012.[ In 2016, a painting titled ''April 57 (Arbia 2)'' sold for $4,666,417, his highest published auction selling price to date.][https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6040615]
References
Further reading
*Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...
, ''Ben Nicholson: Paintings, Reliefs, Drawings''. London: Lund Humphries. 2 volumes, 1948, 1956
*John Read (director, narrator), ''Ben Nicholson: Razor Edge'' (video cassette). London: Arts Council of Great Britain; Balfour Films, 1985
*Jeremy Lewison, ''Ben Nicholson'', London: Phaidon Press, 1991.
*Jeremy Lewison, ''Ben Nicholson (Exhibition, 1993–1994: Tate Gallery, London; St. Etienne)''. London: Tate Gallery, 1993.
*Norbert Lynton, ''Ben Nicholson''. London: Phaidon Press, 1993.
*Sarah Jane Checkland, ''Ben Nicholson: the vicious circles of his life and art''. London: John Murray, 2000.
* Peter Khoroche, ''Ben Nicholson: drawings and painted reliefs''. Aldershot: Lund Humphries, 2002.
External links
*
List of works in Museums and Public Art Galleries
Ben Nicholson at the Tate Collection
Detailed timeline of life at Britain Unlimited
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Ben
1894 births
1982 deaths
Abstract painters
Modern painters
20th-century English painters
English male painters
St Ives artists
Members of the Order of Merit
People educated at Gresham's School
People from Denham, Buckinghamshire
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
Ben
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right.
Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...
20th-century English male artists