Name: 1965 (Olympia)
SKU: 4784
Price: 26500 GBP
Availability: InStock

1965 (Olympia)

by Ben Nicholson

£26,500

DIMENSIONS: (unframed) 22.75 x 19.75 ins

SIGNATURE: Signed ‘Nicholson’ (on the reverse); signed again and dated ‘NICHOLSON 1965’ (on the backboard)

MEDIUM: Ink and oil wash on paper, shaped, on the artist’s prepared board

Pieces such as Olympia, take the concept of still life to its bare bones, and present a profound and timeless commentary on the tradition itself. By the early 1950’s, colour was beginning to play a much less crucial role in Nicholson’s art as the paintings regained the aesthetic purity of his earlier abstract work. Meanwhile, Nicholson’s unique ability to give the illusion of form with so few lines, reinforces the status of the paintings themselves as physical objects.

Catalogue No: 4784 Categories: Ben Nicholson, Modern British

William Nicholson and Mabel Pryde. He studied at the Slade School of Art, 1910-11. He spent 1912 to 1914 in France and Italy, and was in the United States in 1917-18. In 1920, he married the artist Winifred Roberts and over the next three years they spent winters in Lugano, Switzerland, then divided their time between London and Cumberland. In 1931, Nicholson’s relationship with fellow member of the St Ives School, sculptor Barbara Hepworth, resulted in the breakdown of his marriage to Winifred. He and Hepworth married in 1938 and, after a tumultuous decade divorced in 1951. Nicholson lived in London from 1932 to 1939, making several trips to Paris in 1932-3, visiting the studios of Picasso, Braque, Arp, Brancusi and Mondrian. From 1939 to 1958 he lived and worked in Cornwall, before moving to Switzerland. He returned to London in 1974.

Provenance

Property from the holdings of The Ford Foundation, purchased in 1966 at Galerie Gimpel & Hanover, Ben Nicholson Recent Work, June – July 1966

Buy with confidence: our assurance to you

Professional Associations

We have built up a strong reputation for the quality of the paintings, drawings and sculpture that we curate, exhibit and sell. Our professional associations with bodies such as The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) and the Association of Art & Antique Dealers (LAPADA) are as a result of our reputation for integrity, our wide knowledge of fine arts and the high quality of our stock. Our business standards and expertise are reviewed regularly to adhere vigorously with enforced Codes. Our memberships and commitment to its Code of Conducts, gives our buyers confidence when purchasing a work from us.

Authenticity

Condition reports and certificates of authenticity vary in their nature by artwork, for more information on your pieces of interest, please enquire with the gallery.

Artwork images

We take pride in the attention we give to our images of the artworks for purchase and invest in these to ensure outputs are aligned as closely as possible to the item in reality. We do not apply filters or modify images, we provide high quality images to reflect the high quality of our artworks.

Your purchase process

Payment processing – You can be assured that payments are securely processed through Worldpay’s trusted payment gateway.

The Trinity House promise to you

Shipping and packaging

Shipping and packaging requirements are assessed per piece to ensure the most suitable protection for the artwork. Trinity House will therefore call following purchase to agree the recommendations and costs.

Our After Sales services

We offer the following services which we will be happy to discuss with you following your purchase, alternatively you can enquire for more information.

Insurance

We offer insurance appraisals to protect your prised artwork and help you find the right cover and policy for you.

Framing

We are able to advise on framing and have access to every type and style to suit any artistic period or room setting.

Conservation

The nature of the materials involved in a painting mean that on occasion some pieces are susceptible to movement and the effects of natural ageing. We are able to provide advice on practical measures to conserve the original condition of a piece and have relationships with restorers and framers to offer you a range of services to meet your needs.

Literature

Jeremy Lewison, Ben Nicholson, Oxford 1991

Biography

Nicholson’s earliest paintings were still life pictures, influenced by those of his father. In the 1920s he began painting figurative and abstract works inspired by Post Impressionism and Cubism. He produced his first geometric and abstract reliefs in 1933. He first exhibited in 1919, at the Grosvenor Gallery and Grafton Galleries. His first one-man show was held at the Twenty-one Gallery, London, in 1924. From 1924 to 1935 he was a member of the ‘Seven and Five Society,’ and in 1933 he joined ‘Unit One,’ founded by Paul Nash. In 1937 Nicholson, Naum Gabo and the architect Leslie Martin edited Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art. Circle identified Nicholson with a group of like-minded artists and architects who wanted to apply ‘constructivist’ principles to public and private art, advocating mathematical precision, clean lines and an absence of ornament.

In 1952 Nicholson won first prize at the Carnegie International, Pittsburgh. He was awarded the first Guggenheim International painting prize in 1956, and the international prize for painting at the Sao Paulo Bienal in 1957. He received the Order of Merit in 1968. Numerous retrospective exhibitions of his work have been held, including shows at the Venice Biennale and Tate Gallery in 1954-5, Kunsthalle, Berne in 1961, Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas in 1964, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo in 1978, and Tate Gallery in 1993-4. Helped by wide international exposure in British Council tours during the 1940s and 1950s and by the championing of the writer Herbert Read, Nicholson’s work came to be seen, with Henry Moore’s, as the quintessence of British Modernism.

1965 (Olympia)

1965 (Olympia)

Provenance