Ben Nicholson 1894-1982 - ACE151.8

Heron talks about the "small paintings" of Nicholson’s last years which "looked like Indian ink and 6B pencil", and "the configuration [of which] was new … there’s nothing more difficult than to discover a new way of dividing up this rectangle … [Nicholson] was breaking new ground…". Jugs and mugs including May 1978 (single jug) (1978). May 1978 (shadows and lilac) (1978). Exterior of Nicholson’s last home, at Pilgrim’s Lane, Hampstead. Photograph of his collection of glassware and mugs, etc. Verren says that he had trouble with his eyes which made it difficult for him to work, and that he needed companionship and a tranquil atmosphere. Heron describes seeing a "late Picasso" alongside a Nicholson of similar size and thinking that the latter "slightly overwhelmed" the latter. Andras Kalman talks about Nicholson’s work before 1933 and his ability to alternate abstraction with more representational images; he feels that, in the abstract painting, "the placing of the colours, the lines, have a perfection and an elegance which doesn’t appear in either Mondrian or Braque or Picasso … a unique contribution to twentieth century art". Commentary notes that Nicholson died before completing his last work, "a thirty-foot wall, built in Carrara marble, and based on one of his famous white reliefs", the Nicholson Wall, at Sutton Place, Surrey. Credits