Find out about Ben Nicholson. Why does he simplify still life forms and superimpose them on the Cornish Landscape?
Before I started my research on Ben Nicholson I went to the Leeds City Art Gallery. Here, amongst works by many other members of the 7 and 5 society including Ivon Hitchens, Christopher Wood (Anemones in a Cornish Window - a similar theme to that in the question above), and Francis Hodgkins, I found 'Still life with Guitar' by Ben Nicholson. I made a quick and rather unsatisfactory sketch of it on my i-pad (which is orientated incorrectly as I haven't yet mastered this software). I was struck by the simplified guitar motif which reminded me of cubist works by Braque click here for image such as his 1913 Papier Colle' seen here (Guitar 'Program Statue d'Epouvant').
The painting was made on incised plaster on board. The colourscheme was generally muted grey-blues and Browns apart from a form in the background which contained stronger reds and blues (? a plate or a drum or a lifebelt?). To the right side of the neck of the guitar there was a floating human profile incised into the plaster. This was the profile of Barbara Hepworth who became Nicholson's second wife (but more of that later). Click here for 'photo of the same work on another blogger's site
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| The Unsatisfactory Sketch from the Gallery Visit |
Nicholson's father and mother were both artists. William Nicholson was initially quite avant -garde, experimenting with woodcuts and poster design along with his brother -in law James Pryde. However, he eventually settled into the life of an Edwardian society portrait painter. This required William to be a charming and somewhat larger than life character in order to win rich and influential clients. This was the complete opposite of the young Ben's character which was shy and generally suspicious of strangers. (1)
Nicholson saw himself as his mother's favourite. Mabel was also an artist but gave up her art after marrying William and having children. Mabel was renowned for her 'enigmatic silences' and was quite reclusive in comparison to her husband.(1)
Ben Nicholson, therefore had a childhood surrounded by creative people with family holidays in France but his childhood wasn't all idyllic as his Mother and Father's relationship was under strain and they moved the family home several times to be best positioned for his father's work. The only hint of Ben's artistic future was his design of a poster for the stage production of Peter Pan (J M Barrie was a friend of the family) in 1904. (1)
Ben was not academic and did poorly at school except for on the sports field. When he left school, given his creative background, the assumption was made that he would become an artist so his parents sent him to The Slade school of Art . Checkland writes " This decision was less to do with any proven propensity on Ben's part, his only known venture into art up to now having been his Peter Pan poster. Instead, William and Mabel appeared to have presumed that Ben had artistic leanings simply because he was their son"(1)
William Nicholson had both a positive and a negative influence on Ben. He pushed him in the direction of a career as an artist. But Ben was not his favourite son, and this lack of favour extended as far as courting and then marrying Ben's first fiancé Edith after the death of Mabel from Spanish Flu. This meant that there was bitterness and resentment between them. However, Ben's rebellion against the sophistication represented by his father started much earlier than this. At the age of 16 at the Slade School of art he spent a large amount of his time at the local billiards hall instead of applying himself to his studies. In addition, while other students produced epic history paintings, Ben chose to produce a simple still life of a striped jug,Image Here. This was beautifully and sparely rendered. Nicholson returned over and over again to simple still life subjects throughout his career.(1)
At the Slade School, Nicholson became friends with Paul Nash. Among other things they shared a common ground in struggling with drawing (they were taught by a former surgeon who favoured accuracy and precision in drawing). Around this time Fry mounted his 1910 Post Impressionist exhibition. Nicholson would have been ideally placed to learn about the developments in modern art in Paris but as he was more interested in playing billiards this opportunity passed him by unnoticed.(1)
After art school Ben travelled to France and Italy. His father was constantly asking for evidence of his creative endeavours but was then very scathing when the work came to him.
He described his son's work as 'abnormal' and looking like ' the work of an untrained eye' and having a 'depressing distinction'. On the whole he would have preferred a 'commonplace correctness'. (1)
Ben volunteered for service during WWI but was rejected on health grounds (asthma). He spent a lot of time with Edith Philips who inspired him to paint. In 1917 he produced This portrait of Edie. After her husband was lost in action, Ben proposed and Edie accepted - only to subsequently be wooed by and marry Ben's father. (1)
There was an improvement in Ben's situation in 1920 when he met and married Winifred (she reputedly proposed to him). Winifred had a very profound influence on Ben's career. She had great faith in his artistic ability and as an artist herself she had a keen colour sense and an adventurous approach. Last but by no means least, she had a generous personal allowance from her grandmother which allowed the newlyweds to live with a 'luxurious contempt for money'. The two travelled to Italy and rented a villa a where they lived quite simply and painted at an intense rate. Although Winifred generally chose 'feminine' subjects such as vases of flowers on a windowsill, one of Winfred's paintings of a mandolin inspired him to produce later abstracted images of musical instruments.(1)
At this time in his life, Nicholson was didn't know about the pre war developments in painting such as cubism, vorticism and the Italian Futurists. Access to works of art relied on being able to visit the galleries showing them - there was no such thing as "google images" in those days! Having been through the war themselves, many of Ben's contemporaries now considered the futurists and vorticists too aggressive, masculine and industrial - therefore they reacted against this and many of the painters who were more avant garde before the war reacted against these styles and reverted to more traditional landscape painting. Ben on the other hand did not experience the front - line and he was searching for a different aesthetic. (1)
Around that time Russian artists were experimenting with Abstraction. Malevich produced the first completely abstract works and called his movement 'suprematism' click here for link to Malevich Suprematist composition white on white 1918. Looking at the suprematist all white compositions and Nicholson's later white reliefs it is tempting to say that he was influenced by Malevich but there is no record of BN having seen Malevich's work. Kandinsky was also producing abstract work. Kandinsky - On White 1923. A ditch movement called De Stijl (also known as neoplasticism) was also developing Example: Piet Mondrian Composition A: 1923. In addition the Dadaists and Surrealists were starting to gain momentum (see Max Ernst in assignment 1). (2)
Nicholson, however, was not yet aware of any of these developments. He went to Paris and saw the Autumn Salon exhibition. He was largely unimpressed. He Hated Matisse and the only praise he had for Picasso was about a section of 'miraculous green' in one of his paintings. He liked tribal art and the Italian primitives such as the 15th century artist Paolo Uccello. He was also enamoured of the Douanier Henri Rousseau. He and Winifred particularly liked his 1907 painting Apes in the Orange Grove. He also praised some of the academic still lives of Derain Example here: Table 1922 after Derain's move away from the fauvists. So again Ben liked simplicity and eschewed sophistication.(1)
Ben's career was slow to pick up momentum. Although he was working very hard he received little crtical acclaim initially. In 1923 Winifred and Ben held a joint exhibition in Bond Street in London. All of Winifred's paintings were sold and none of Ben's. Around this time Bens started to produce his first completely abstract paintings such as 'Trout' (which he later renamed as completely abstract painting) and First Abstract Painting, Chelsea : 1924. In 1924 the Daily mail proclaimed him a 'prodigal son' saying that William Nicholson must be horrified at his son's experimenting which was perhaps one of the very reason's that Ben was doing it. However it seems he may have lost his nerve somewhat as he reverted to a more conventional approach for approximately the next 10 years.(3)
Ivon Hitchens invited Ben to join the 7&5 society which was originally quite a conservative organisation reacting against experimentation in art in too many different directions. Ben made this his first power base. He became chairman in 1926 and changed to voting procedures to allow him to introduce new members and get rid of 'duds' (as he charmingly put it). He eventually changed the society beyond recognition renaming it the 7&5 Abstract Society and staging the first British entirely Abstract exhibition in 1935 but eventually causing the demise of the society through his manipulative tactics.(1)
Around the same period there were several other influences on Ben's life including, Christopher 'Kit' Wood, Christian Science religion, becoming a parent for the first time (see naive portrait of Winifred and first child featured here)and last but not least Alfred Wallis.(1)
Christopher Wood was a friend of Winifred and Ben's and provided a stimulus in their work and life. He had been amongst important people in the art scene in Paris (and had taken male and female lovers). He was charming and attractive but was also an opium addict. He eventually came to a tragic end after jumping under a train. However for a time he shone brightly and influenced Ben an Winifred. Ben would have particularly appreciated his contacts in the Paris art scene. Kit was also invited to join the 7&5 Society. He spent time with the Nicholsons both at Banks Head - their home in Cumbria and also in St Ives. Ben was cultivating a naive and unsophisticated style as can be seen in This painting of 1928 - Foothills, Cumberland. (1) (3)
Religion became a large feature in Ben and Winifred's life. Paul Nash's wife Bunty introduced them to Christian Science and they credited it with Winifred's ability to conceive after having been diagnosed as infertile and also with her survival as well as that of their child after she fell through a trap door in a gallery while preparing for an exhibition. Christian science also influenced Ben's philosophy towards his creative work in that he began to think that all creative work had a spiritual element to it. This caused him to feel a kinship with Mondrian when he met him several years later in Paris. Mondrian was not a christian scientist but believed in Theosophy - a mystical belief system set up by a Russian clairvoyant Madame Helena Blavatsky in the 1870s. As a result of their religious beliefs both men believed they expressed their spiritual belief through their art and they also both had great self-belief which drove them on. Christian science also had an effect on Ben's attitude to his relationships with women. Since it forbade possessiveness. This was later to result in a long-running love triangle between Ben, Winifred and his mistress and then second wife Barbara Hepworth.(1)
Nicholson and Wood encountered Alfred Wallis by chance when they were painting in Cornwall. Wallis was a genuinely naive and untrained artist. He claimed to be an ancient mariner (but some of the stories he told about his life turned out to be economical with the truth). He, was, however, genuinely untrained at painting. He painted with whatever materials were to hand - such as house paint on irregularly shaped pieces of cardboard. He did not obey any rules of composition or perspective. Wallis's work can be viewed here on the Tate Website. The direct influence of Wallis can be seen in Ben's 1928 painting Porthmeor Beach St Ives. Nicholson was so enamoured of Wallis's work that he bought almost as much as the old Cornishman could produce. Wallis was included in the 7&5 society's exhibition in 1929. This inclusion somewhat backfired for Nicholson as the critics lauded Wallis as 'too refreshing a contrast with the would -be unalphabetic attempts of some of the group'. Wyndam Lewis also condemned the studied modern naivety as the product of an 'irresponsible Peterpannish psychology'. This may have helped in Nicholson's subsequent decision to move away from primitivism towards complete abstraction.(1)
Ben met Barbara Hepworth in 1930. Another member of the 7&5 society she seemed more bohemian than Winifred. They became lovers. Hepworth influenced Ben in several ways. Working together in London they encouraged each other towards abstraction. During this period many of Nicholson's works featured Hepworth's face or profile.Example here from 1932. He also experimented with his simplified images of musical instruments See Guitar here. Many of his works at this time feature plaster on board which the artist incised to create textural interest. This may also be the influence of Hepworth as Nicholson was moving towards and art form somewhere between painting and sculpture.(1)
For her part, Winifred countered by relocating with their three children to Paris. This was a shrewd move because Ben longed to become part of the avant garde Paris art scene and this meant that he spent long periods of time with Winifred and the children. Here he met Mondrian, Braque and Picasso. He and Barbara were also invited by Jean Helion to join the group 'Abstraction Creation: Art Non -Figuratif'. Other members included Wassily Kandinsky, Mondrian and Jean Arp. At this time, Ben was still producing both abstract and figurative works but in late 1933 he produced his first White Relief. He exploited an accident when a large layer of plaster fell off one of his boards while he was incising. He ran with this idea and produced many white and painted reliefs for periods throughout his career. The reliefs always featured geometric shapes in particular quadrilaterals and circles. The circle is a symbol of powerful significance in Christian science backing up the claim of a spiritual significance to the work. Ben was also a member of 'Unit One' a society for 'Advanced British Art' but this organisation was short-lived owing to infighting between the members.(1)
During World War II Hepworth, Nicholson and their triplets relocated to Cornwall. Both artists became prominent members of the St Ives Group of artists. Many of their contemporaries (including Henry Moore, Eric Ravilious) were paid by the government during the war to document scenes both from the front line and of scenes of life at home under wartime conditions. Nicholson's services were not required. In order to make a living he reverted to more figurative painting in particular featuring landscapes which he termed his 'pot boilers' to indicate that he considered them a lower but more saleable form of art. (1)
At this point I think it's appropriate to answer the question posed above:
Why does he simplify still life forms and superimpose them on the Cornish Landscape?
I'll attempt to do this by looking at This particular image :1934-45 (St Ives Cornwall). This is his most viewed work on the Tate website. Here we can see many of the influences I have discussed coming together.
The overall subject of landscape in the background viewed through a window with still life in the foreground was a popular subject at the time with contemporaries in the St Ives group.
The background of the painting is influenced by his environment at the time. Firstly because the Cornish coastline in particularly beautiful but also the environment of the War necessitated the use of landscape as a saleable product for financial motives. The treatment of the background is influenced by Nicholson's love of primitivism and in particular the influence of Alfred Wallis can be seen here. In the middle ground. The rooves and chimneys are reduced to geometric shapes referring to his abstract work. In the foreground the treatment of the simplified cups and sugar bowl owe a lot to the influence of cubism with the difference in perspective between their upper and lower edges and their sharp-edged flatness. The flag in the foreground is a reference to the celebration of VE day. The overarching feel of the work is of simplification and naivety. In this we can see Nicholson's reaction against the slick sophistication of his father's Edwardian portraiture.
During the 1950s Nicholson finally started to get the recognition he felt he deserved winning important painting prizes. He continued to produce abstract works Such as Aug 56 (Val d'Orcia) which still harks back to the still lives. This painting one the Guggenheim International Painting Prize in 1956. (4)
He moved to Switzerland with his third wife Felicitas Volger. Here he produced further large reliefs and smaller drawings. His third marriage failed and he returned to the Uk for the rest of his life and continued to work and exhibit until his death in 1982. (4)
References:
(1) Ben Nicholson : The Vicious Circles of his Life and Art. Sarah Jane Checkland (2012 - Kindle Edition) Big Benjamin Books Highbury, London (First Published 200 by John Murray Ltd)
(2)...isms : Understanding Art. Stephen Little (Herbert Press, London)
(3)Ben Nicholson by Norbert Lynton (Phaidon 1988)
(4) Nicholson: (3) Ben Nicholson online article by Duncan Robinson and Judith Collins Grove Art Online Via Oxford art online.
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