Patrick Heron. Interviewed by John Read - ACE150.4

Heron denies any mystical side to Nicholson. On symbols as opposed to images. On Mark Rothko talking about "grace". Nicholson being very down to earth if sometimes over-complex. On "draftsmanship"; execution and conception go together. He says that Nicholson thought that the meaning of a thing springs from its physical reality. Heron on Nicholson’s studio: neat and tidy, and rather "domesticated". He says he unconsciously organises objects in his own studio on a rectilinear grid. Heron can’t identify only a single paramount quality in Nicholson’s work. Talks about seeing a seven-foot late Picasso alongside a similarly-dimensioned Nicholson he hadn’t seen before, which he thought "slightly overwhelmed the Picasso". On Nicholson’s Swiss period, returning to reliefs and mixing different periods. He believes that the two last exhibitions were full of new and "fantastically inventive" work, breaking new ground.