Ben Nicholson, O.M.

Galerie Beyeler, Basel (acquired in 1959)
Dr G. Guggenheim, Zurich
Waddington Galleries Ltd., London
Sale: Christie's, London, 3rd April 1989, lot 55
Private Collection
Sale: Christie's, London, 9th December 1999, lot 334
Purchased at the above sale by the present owners

Bern, Kunsthalle, Ben Nicholson, 1961, no. 51
St. Gallen, Kunstmuseum, Arp, Bissier, Nicholson, Tobey, Valenti, 1963, no. 54

Norbert Lynton, Ben Nicholson, London, 1993, no. 225, illustrated in colour p. 240

The canvas is unlined. Apart from a pinhead-sized spot of retouching in the middle of the top edge (not visible when framed) and a small spot of retouching in the blue pigment, visible under ultra-violet light, this work is in very good condition. The frame has some nicks and small chips, consistent with its age and handling. Colours: In comparison with the printed catalogue illustration, the overall tonality of the work is stronger and deeper in the original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

With the advent of World War II, Ben Nicholson retreated from Hampstead to the small fishing village of St. Ives in Cornwall. From this artistic outpost, Nicholson continued to promote the 'constructive idea', and the still-lifes from this period helped establish his international reputation as a guardian of abstract art. The cause of Constructivist art in Britain had been aided by the flood of Continental émigrés in the 1930s, but many luminaries such as Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Walter Gropius and Piet Mondrian had subsequently secured passage to the United States, leaving Nicholson, Hepworth and Gabo to carry the torch from their rural outpost.

Whilst Nicholson continued to experiment with Cubist-inspired abstraction, the move to Cornwall introduced a naturalistic element into his work, which was also related to Neo-Romanticism, a movement that gained influence in the 1940s and urged a return to traditional English art by emphasising poetic content over form. Still-Life 1946 is a magnificent result of these hybrid influences, exhibiting traits derived from both Cubism and Mondrian, while also incorporating the worn, weathered textures inspired by the Cornish landscape. As the critic of the Washington Post commented following an exhibition of Nicholson's works from this period in 1951, 'One of the most individual and elusive of contemporary artists, his work evades description, for it is based on elements of naturalism and cubism, a combination of the real and the unreal, of geometric discipline in part, of free imaginative drawing and painting in part' (quoted in Jeremy Lewison, Ben Nicholson, London, 1993, p. 54). It was Nicholson's capacity to balance the contrary forces of abstraction and a poetic, naturalistic aesthetic that gives his work such a harmonious balance, prompting E. H. Ramsden to observe: 'Such a combination of qualities is unique, also, in that it produces classical perfection of finish, on the one hand, and a romantic intensity of feeling on the other (E. H. Ramsden, 'Ben Nicholson – Constructivist', in Studio, December 1945, pp. 179-180).