1932 (profile: Venetian red)
About this artwork
Nicholson turned towards abstraction in the early 1930s, developed through a profound love for cubist painting. This work is based upon a table-top still life, a favourite motif of Picasso and Braque. The legs can be seen below, with a jug and a mug on the top. The profile on the white rectangle is that of the sculptor Barbara Hepworth with whom Nicholson had recently started a relationship. The spotted rectangles in the painting may represent printed fabric that he was experimenting with at the time
Updated before 2020
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artist:Ben Nicholson (1894 - 1982) English
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title:1932 (profile: Venetian red)
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date created:1932
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:122.50 x 90.60 cm; Framed: 129.20 x 97.80 x 6.20 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H.M. Government from the Estate of Dr Elisabeth Swan and Dr Harold Swan, and allocated to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 2016
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accession number:GMA 5552
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gallery:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson was the eldest son of the painters William Nicholson and Mabel Pryde. He did not devote himself seriously to art until 1920, the same year he married the artist Winifred Roberts. His early works were simple and traditional still lifes. In 1921 he saw an exhibition of cubist paintings...