Margaret Mellis

Relief Construction in Wood

About this artwork

Mellis was encouraged to experiment with collages and constructions by her friend, the artist Ben Nicholson, whose family lived with Mellis and her husband in St Ives at the start of the Second World War. These new works forced Mellis to 'think in a different way, not in colour which was natural for me.' This relief is somewhere between a painting and a sculpture, as it is put together, or 'constructed', using wood of different colours and textures. Mellis has used both geometric and natural shapes: for example, the egg shape in the centre, which is divided by a triangle.

Updated before 2020

see media
  • artist:
    Margaret Mellis (1914 - 2009) Scottish
  • title:
    Relief Construction in Wood
  • date created:
    1941
  • materials:
    Wood relief, pencil
  • measurements:
    36.40 x 37.30 cm (relief size); 54.50 x 57.00 x 6.00 cm (framed size)
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased 1983
  • accession number:
    GMA 2745
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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Margaret Mellis

Margaret Mellis