1946 (still life)

1946
Nicholson, Ben
'1946 (still life)' is painted to give the illusion of a board in relief. It was made in St Ives, Cornwall, in a period during and after the Second World War when Ben Nicholson produced fewer of the abstract reliefs for which he was known. The brightly painted flattened geometrical shapes in the centre relate to jug handles, glasses and bottles, and attest to Nicholson's interest in still life. Although Nicholson made some of the most rigorously abstract works produced in England in the 1930s, he also painted works which referred to the natural world, including still-life objects. His lifelong fascination with still life was most likely inherited from his father, the artist William Nicholson, along with a substantial collection of glasses, goblets, jugs and mugs, many of which appear in his works. Ann Jones
  • Artwork Details: 40.6 x 50.8cm
  • Edition:
  • Material description: oil on canvas
  • Credit line: Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © Angela Verren Taunt 2015. All rights reserved, DACS.
  • Theme: Still Life
  • Medium: Painting
  • Accession number: AC 28

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The Arts Council Collection is the UK's most widely seen collection of modern and contemporary art.

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