Winifred Nicholson. Not Nailed Down - ACE180.2

Mother of pearl shell; VO of Winifred Nicholson talking about Byam Shaw, her art school tutor, being disapproving of the colours she was using to paint such a shell. Artist mixing paints on palette. VO talking about the changeable nature of colours though "for a long time they have been nailed down like carpets." Paintings including Honeysuckle and Sweet Peas (c.1945-1946), while commentary describes her as "a joyful experimenter with colour" and as "an important painter who has been overlooked". Winifred Nicholson interviewed in 1980: "Colours make me want to paint. To jump for joy." Photographs of Nicholson. Judy Collins, The Tate Gallery, saying Winifred Nicholson wasn’t as famous as her husband, Ben, "because she didn’t court fame". Collins says that when both became recognised as part of the British Modern movement, he asked her to change her name, and she painted as Winifred Dacre. Photographs. Collins VO gives brief career details, and talks about starting her researches on Nicholson’s work. Exterior and interiors Banks Head, the Nicholsons’ house in Cumbria. Nicholson’s description over. Landscapes including view of house over fields; painting of same view, The Swaites (1923). Photograph of country lane; painting of similar view. Collins talks about her researches and being shown a letter from the 1960s in which Nicholson said "I never date my work, I never sign my work and I never give my work titles, because if I did, what would it leave the art historian to do." Donald Wilkinson shows painting of wild flowers on Iona which has the painting The Red Flower Pot (1930) on the back. Collins talking about letters written by Nicholson in response to requests for information in which she claims that such information is not important. Photographs of Winifred and Ben Nicholson. Winifred’s words over talking about meeting Ben. Painting showing the location of the Villa Capriccio Castagnola, on Lake Lugano. Photographs of Winifred. Nicholson’s VO talking about "a flowering point" in their painting; Mughetti (1922), painting of a pot of Lily of the valley given her by Ben. Cyclamen and Primula (1922). Collins VO talking about Nicholson’s "favourite composition" of a vase or pot of flowers in front of a window space overlooking hills or mountains (no middle ground) and quoting Nicholson as writing that she tried to "toss the light and the colours like a shuttlecock" between foreground and background . Paintings including Moss Roses and White Campanulas at Burwash (1937) and Narcissi in a Grey Pot.