About this artwork
Mellis was encouraged to experiment with collages and constructions by her friend, the artist Ben Nicholson. His 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 constructed using wood of different colours and textures. She has used both geometric and natural shapes: we can see this in the egg shape in the centre, which has been divided by a triangle.
Updated April 2024
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artist:Margaret Mellis (1914 - 2009) Scottish
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title:Relief Construction in Wood
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date created:1941
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materials:Wood relief, pencil
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measurements:36.40 x 37.30 cm (relief size); 54.50 x 57.00 x 6.00 cm (framed size)
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1983
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accession number:GMA 2745
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gallery:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Margaret Mellis
Margaret Mellis
Mellis was born in China to Scottish parents and moved to Britain when she was one year old. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art under SJ Peploe, winning a scholarship to study in Paris in 1933. In 1939 Mellis moved to St Ives with her husband, the writer Adrian Stokes. There, she became part...