National Galleries of Scotland

In 1920 Ben Nicholson and his wife Winifred bought a villa at Castagnola in Switzerland. The couple spent several winters there painting the surrounding landscape. However, through dissatisfaction Ben Nicholson destroyed, or simply painted over, most of the canvases from this period. In some of the surviving works from around 1921-3 the influence of Paul Cezanne is evident, highlighted here in the bold handling of the paint. Many of Nicholson?s paintings were executed outside in the snow, creating lighter palette. This work displays a similar tonal quality over the whole surface except for the small house, which is almost centralised on the board.