About this artwork
In 1931 Nicholson moved from Cumbria to a house in Hampstead, London, which he shared with his new companion, the sculptor Barbara Hepworth. It was around this time that Nicholson turned to abstraction, due, in part, to the influence of Hepworth. This print shows the couple’s overlapping profiles. The style owes much to Picasso, whom Nicholson had met in Paris in 1932. Nicholson subsequently made fabric designs from a similar repeat pattern.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Ben Nicholson (1894 - 1982) English
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title:man and woman: heads in profile
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date created:1933
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materials:Linocut on paper
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measurements:25.80 x 18.10 cm (paper 32.70 x 24.30 cm)
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1978
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accession number:GMA 2069
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gallery:
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subject:
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...
