Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson (1894 - 1982)
Ben Nicholson was born in 1894 into a firmly established artistic family: his father was Sir William Nicholson, one of the English Impressionists, his mother was also a painter, and the sister of the acclaimed painter James Pryde. His first wife was the painter Winifred Nicholson, whilst his second wife was the sculptor Barbara Hepworth. Nicholson enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art in London in 1911. He remained there for just one term, leaving to work initially in France from 1911 to 1912 (mostly in Tours). He then worked in Italy from 1912 to 1913, Madeira from 1913 to 1914, and California from 1917 to 1918. In England he joined the Axis group, until in 1924 he joined the 7&5 Society, becoming its Chairman in 1926, and in 1933 was a joint founder of Unit One alongside Paul Nash. Whilst visiting France between 1932 and 1933 with Barbara Hepworth, he met Jean Arp and Sophie Taüber-Arp. In France he joined the Abstraction-Création group, after being invited by Jean Hélion. Between 1938 and 1940 he lived in Hampstead, where his neighbour was Mondrian, who was briefly residing in London between stays in Paris and New York. In 1940, with second wife Hepworth, he moved to St Ives in Cornwall. Many artists came to join them here, particularly after the war, and formed a group around him. In 1958 he moved to Brissago in Switzerland for several years, returning to England again in 1971. He was awarded numerous prizes and distinctions: in 1952 he won the Carnegie Prize at the International Exhibition in Pittsburgh; in 1956 he won the First Guggenheim International Prize; in 1957 he won the International Painting Prize at the São Paulo Biennale; and in 1958 he won a major prize at the Venice Biennale.
Ben Nicholson is seen as the principal representative of Abstraction in English art between the wars. In 1937, along with the architect J.L. Martin and Naum Gabo, he published the review entitled Circle - International Survey of Constructive Art. Ben Nicholson is undoubtedly one of the great exponents of inter-war British art, particularly British abstraction. In an international context his work draws upon and contributes to the legacy of European Cubism and Neo-Plasticism. His work retains a quintessentially British classicism, with a tendency towards sparse, ethereal draughtsmanship which is particularly perceptible in his large black drawings on canvas. These are based on a restrained vocabulary of household items pared down to their bare essence, to the point at which they constitute abstract circles and squares realised through a barely coloured delicate palette, with the transparency of watercolour, a few shadow effects and discreet experiments with paint and grottage. The extreme refinement and restraint of his work constitutes his unique contribution to modern British, and international, art.
Text Source: Benezit Dictionary of Artists
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Drawn to Paper
2021 2 Jul - 6 Aug 2021Paper is easily and variously marked. Charcoal and chalk scuff, smudge or slice; pen and ink dash, hatch and stipple; areas of colour shimmer in pastel, glow in gouache or...Read more -
Ben Nicholson
Distant Planes 1955-1979 15 Oct 2020 - 16 Apr 2021Ben Nicholson was one of the great British modernists of the twentieth century. This exhibition, curated with Dr Lee Beard, explores Nicholson’s years in Switzerland: a period of creative outpouring...Read more -
Masterpiece
Online Viewing Room 22 - 28 Jun 2020Piano Nobile is returning this summer to Masterpiece, London's leading art and antiques fair. Masterpiece will be hosted as an online digital fair this year. Highlights from our online display...Read more -
London Art Fair 2020
Stand 7 21 - 26 Jan 2020 Art FairPiano Nobile returns to the London Art Fair with a stand showing a fine selection of twentieth-century British art. The fair is held at the Business Design Centre in Islington....Read more
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Museum Belvédère's Living the Landscape exhibition to include Piano Nobile loans
Oranjewoud, Holland June 20, 2022Piano Nobile are delighted to have loaned several works to Museum Belvédère Living the Landscape exhibition. Focusing on the work of Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth...Read more -
InSight No. XCVIII
Ben Nicholson | November 1960 (Anne) March 2, 2022Ben Nicholson returned to relief carving with gusto shortly before moving to Switzerland in 1958. Throughout his Swiss period, his highly original reliefs won him...Read more -
Piano Nobile supports Ben Nicholson: From the Studio
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester June 26, 2021Ben Nicholson: From the Studio, on show at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester until 24th October 2021, presents an intimate look at Ben Nicholson's everyday inspirations....Read more -
InSight No. LXIII
Ben Nicholson | 1971 (two squares and very green) March 31, 2021In 1965, Ben Nicholson discovered a remarkable field of ancient standing stones in Brittany. For the next six years, he evoked the stones in his...Read more -
InSight No. LVIII
Ben Nicholson | Pisa, 1951 February 24, 2021Ben Nicholson produced only a small number of intaglio prints in his career. Each example is marked by pictorial subtlety and a craftsman-like understanding of...Read more -
The Late Show: Ben Nicholson
Antiques Trade Gazette | Frances Allitt November 5, 2020By the 1950s British artist Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) had achieved international recognition and was embarking on the second part of an illustrious career. Yet his...Read more -
InSight No. XL
Ben Nicholson, November 1959 (Mycenae 3 - brown and blue) October 14, 2020Ahead of Piano Nobile's Ben Nicholson exhibition, InSight considers a work which the artist made after swapping Cornwall for Switzerland in 1958. Nicholson liked to...Read more -
InSight No. VII
Ben Nicholson | May 1955 (green chisel) April 16, 2020Some neighbours make themselves a nuisance by playing the radio too loudly, crashing about in the kitchen, or having regular shouting matches. When he was...Read more