Christopher David George "Kit" Nicholson (16 December 1904 – 28 July 1948) was a British architect and designer closely associated with the early
Modern Movement in Britain. His most notable works of the 1930s were comparable to the advanced modern abstract style of his older brother, the artist
Ben Nicholson.
Early life and education
Nicholson was born on 16 December 1904 at 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 ...
, the fourth child of the artists
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 ...
. His siblings were the celebrated painter
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, � ...
(1894–1982); Anthony (1897–1918), who died of wounds in France during the
First World War; and
Annie Mary "Nancy" (1899–1978), artist and wife of the poet
Robert Graves
Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...
. Kit Nicholson was educated 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
Holt or holte may refer to:
Natural world
*Holt (den), an otter den
* Holt, an area of woodland
Places Australia
* Holt, Australian Capital Territory
* Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...
, from 1917 to 1922, and then read architecture at
St. John's College, Cambridge. In 1926, he won a one-year
Davison Scholarship to study architecture at
Princeton University.
Career
After his return to Britain in 1927, he undertook several small architectural commissions. From 1929 to 1930, he taught at the
School of Architecture, University of Cambridge; one of his pupils was
Hugh Casson. Nicholson moved to London in 1931, and worked for
Watson Hart and
Val Myer
George Valentine S. Myer (1883, Hereford – 1959, London) was an English architect and portrait painter appointed by the British Broadcasting Corporation to design one of the first purpose built broadcast buildings in the world, Broadcasting ...
. In December 1931, Nicholson married Elsie Queen Myers, usually known as
EQ Nicholson
EQ Nicholson (4 November 1908 – 7 September 1992) was an English painter and textile designer.
Early life
Elsie Queen Myers was born in London on 4 November 1908, the daughter of the novelist Leo Myers and his American-born wife Elsie ...
, whom he had met in about 1930. They had three children: two daughters, Jane Kasmin and textile designer Louisa Creed, and a son, the painter Tim Nicholson.
In 1933, Nicholson started his own
architectural practice
In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countri ...
, in premises over a
chemist's
A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...
in the
Fulham Road. Casson joined the practice in 1934, and EQ also worked there.
Between 1933 and 1934, Nicholson worked on the design and construction of a new
studio
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
for
Augustus John at
Fordingbridge in
Hampshire. In 1935 and 1936, he designed and built the premises of the
London Gliding Club at
Dunstable in
Bedfordshire. In the same period, he made alterations to
Monkton House for
Edward James
Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement.
Early life and marriage
James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherite ...
, and designed and constructed a private house, Kit's Close, at
Henley
Henley may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Henley, Dorset, a location
* Henley, Gloucestershire, a location
* Henley-on-Thames, a town in South Oxfordshire, England
** Henley (UK Parliament constituency)
** Henley Rural District, a former ru ...
. In 1938, James asked him to design a new building for his
estate at West Dean, which was to incorporate the façade of
James Wyatt's
Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
in
Oxford Street, London, which was being demolished.
Nicholson was elected to the
Modern Architecture Research Group in 1937, and was on the committee which organised the New Architecture Exhibition held by the group at the
New Burlington Galleries
The New Burlington Galleries was an art gallery at 5 Burlington Gardens, Mayfair, London.
From 11 June to 4 July 1936, they held the ''International Surrealist Exhibition'', the first full exhibition of surrealist art in the UK.
From 7 June to 28 ...
in London from 11 to 29 January 1938.
With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Nicholson signed up as a
Meteorological Officer in the
Fleet Air Arm. Between 1943 and 1945, he was the
commander in charge of flying at the
Inskip airfield in
Lancashire. In 1945, he flew a
Hellcat to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to take up a position as commander of the
Katukurunda
Katukurunda Airport ( si, කටුකුරුන්ද ගුවන්තොටුපළ ''Katukurunda Guwanthotupala'', ) is a domestic airport located near the town of Kalutara in Sri Lanka. It is also a military airbase known as Sri Lanka A ...
base of the Fleet Air Arm. He flew solo, and the journey took him a month.
After he returned to Britain in 1946, Nicholson resumed practice as an architect. He undertook small commissions, including some design work for
exhibition stands, and the design of radio and television sets for
Ferranti.
A
gliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...
enthusiast, Nicholson died at age 43 on 28 July 1948 in a gliding accident during the
World Gliding Championships at
Samedan in the
Graubünden, in Switzerland.
Legacy and honours
In 1988, an exhibition in York showed Nicholson's work beside that of his brother, his sister and his wife. In 1994, the
Royal Institute of British Architects acquired his complete collection of drawings, records and photographs for the Drawings Collection of the
British Architectural Library
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
. A selection was reproduced by Neil Bingham in ''Christopher Nicholson'' (1996), from the early projects through to his major buildings such as
Augustus John's studio and the
London Gliding Club.
References
External links
Nicholson blueprintin the
Victoria and Albert Museum.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Christopher
1904 births
1948 deaths
20th-century English architects
People educated at Gresham's School
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Christopher
Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...