Ben Nicholson and Winifred Nicholson

Art and Life examines the artistic partnership of Ben Nicholson and Winifred Nicholson in the 1920s and their friendship and collaboration with Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis, and the potter William Staite Murray. Inspired by each other, the Nicholsons experimented furiously and often painted the same subject, one as a colourist the other more interested in form. Winifred wrote of her time with Ben, 'All artists are unique and can only unite as complementaries not as similarities'. In the principal essay Jovan Nicholson explores the way ideas flowed between the Nicholsons and Christopher Wood when they painted side by side in Cumberland and Cornwall, with particular emphasis on their meeting with Alfred Wallis in St Ives in 1928. Sebastiano Barassi focuses on the Nicholsons' visits to Paris, Italy and Switzerland in the early 1920s, while the potter Julian Stair examines the importance of William Staite Murray, one of the most successful potters at that time. All three draw on new research based on previously unpublished letters, photographs and other material. All the works are illustrated in full colour, each with comments relating to the work by the artists and their critics.
The majority of the works come from private collections, and many are previously unseen. Art and Life provides unique and personal insights into these innovative and important artists.