1935 (white relief) (1935)

Ben Nicholson

painted wood

Tate, London, Liverpool and St Ives

Classification:

Relief, Painting

Materials:

Wood

Physical Object Description:

Carved out of mahogany mounted on plywood and painted white. Inscribed: ‘Ben Nicholson 1935’ on reverse.

Dimensions:

101.6 x 166.4 cm

Accession Number:

T00049

Credit:

Purchased by Tate with assistance from the Contemporary Art Society, 1955

Scheme:

Co-Acquisition

Ownership history:

Purchased from the artist by the Tate Gallery, with grant-in-aid assistance of the Contemporary Art Society, 1955

Relationship:

Tate, London, Liverpool and St Ives

Subject:

Abstract, Whites

Ben Nicholson was, with his second wife Barbara Hepworth, a leading figure in the international modern movement in Britain. With artists in continental Europe and North America such as Mondrian, Moholy-Nagy and Calder they worked together to achieve and promote an art that was abstract, synthesised with architecture and design. In defiance of the increasingly antagonistic nationalism engulfing Europe, position was explicitly internationalist and utopian. The compositional quietude of Nicholson’s white reliefs provided an aesthetic model for a possible social harmony.

All rights reserved. Any further use will need to be cleared with the rights holder. Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited.

Read our copyright policy for more information.