Winifred Nicholson[a] (21 December 1893 – 5 March 1981) was a British painter. She was married to the painter Ben Nicholson, and was thus the daughter-in-law of the painter William Nicholson and his wife, the painter Mabel Pryde. She was the mother of the painter Kate Nicholson.
Winifred Nicholson was a colourist who developed a personal impressionistic style, concentrating on domestic still life objects and landscapes. She often combined the two subjects as seen in her painting From Bedroom Window, Bankshead showing a landscape viewed through a window, with flowers in a vase in the foreground.
Winifred Nicholson, British 1893-1981 - From the Greek Theatre, Samos, 1966; crayon on paper, 37.7 x 55 cm (ARR) Provenance: with Crane Kalman Gallery, London (according to the label attached to the reverse of the frame); The Collection of Mrs Eileen Carter, purchased from the above in March 1967 and thence by descent Note: this late work by Winifred Nicholson demonstrates the artist's total liberation of colour from form, the scene built up of energetic waves of pure colour. The artist was particularly interested in an understanding of light and translucency, and in later works such as this, she experimented with a prism to explore of rainbow colours in everyday objects. The artist visited Greece numerous times from the 1960s onwards and it became central to the artist's work and the focus of many of her exhibitions, including 'Wild Flowers in Greece' at the Redfern Gallery in 1964. Nicholson first exhibited with Crane Kalman in 1967 and this work was possibly included in this first exhibition. She would go on to hold frequent exhibitions with the gallery throughout the rest of her life.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1991) AESCULUS ORCHID, 1966 signed, inscribed and dated (to reverse), gouache on paper 57.5cm x 49.5cm (22 5/8in x 19 ½in) with Abbott and Holder, London;The Collection of Roger Lloyd Pack.
▲ Winifred Nicholson (1893-1981) 'Goats in a Cumberland Landscape', 1946 oil on board 56 x 67cm Provenance: The artist; Crane Kalman Gallery, London. Please note that since initially cataloguing this lot, we have been informed that Winifred Nicholson did not live in the Lake District at the time this painting was executed but instead in Boothby, near Brampton. She kept goats at the time and this can be seen in similar works such as 'Goats in a Landscape', Sotheby’s, 11 November 2009, lot 150. It is likely that the present lot was exhibited at: Agnews, London, 'Six Painters', no. 4. February 1949, as ‘Landscape with Goats’, panel, 22 x 26½ in; Lefevre Gallery, London, August 1947, no. 51 as ‘Landscape with Goats’, 1946, panel, 22 x 26½ in. We are grateful to Jovan Nicholson for his kind assistance in cataloguing this lot. Condition Report: Framed: 67.5 x 79cm Presents well overall. A small loss in the extreme upper right corner. Two tiny splits/ losses to the paint to the top of the left edge.There is a small brown spot in the sky along the upper edge on the right side. There is a very fine 5cm long horizontal crack in the lower left quarter with two smaller cracks starting to emerge in the same area. A faint dirty line to the bottom of the left edge. Spots and speckles of light surface dirt. Not examined under UV light, for a full report please contact the department.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1981) STUDY: STORM OF COLOUR Oil and watercolour on paper 35cm x 53cm (13.75in x 21in) The Estate of the Artist, and thence by descent.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1981) CATTLE IN AN ITALIAN TOWN Gouache, pencil and watercolour on paper 44.5cm x 64cm (17.5in x 25in) The Estate of the Artist, and thence by descent.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1981) BLUE SEA GODDESS Inscribed to canvas overlap verso, oil on canvas 50cm x 65cm (19.75in x 25.5in), unframed The Estate of the Artist, and thence by descent.
Winifred Nicholson 1893 - 1981 Whither indistinctly signed Winifred Nicholson, titled, dated 1936 and inscribed (on the reverse) oil on board overall (including integral frame): 76.5 by 76.5cm.; 30 by 30in. Executed in 1935-6.
▲ Winifred Nicholson (1893-1981) 'Goats in a Cumberland Landscape', 1946 oil on board 56 x 67cm Provenance: The artist; Crane Kalman Gallery, London. 'Goats in a Cumberland Landscape' reflects Winifred Nicholson’s deep connection to the rural landscapes of Cumberland, where she lived for much of her life. During the 1940s, she was particularly drawn to the quiet beauty of the Lake District, capturing its rolling hills, rustic charm, and pastoral scenes with a unique sensitivity. In this work, Nicholson’s subtle use of light and colour evokes the tranquillity of the region. Her palette - muted greens, soft blues and warm earth tones - conveys both the solidity of the land and the gentle rhythm of rural life. The inclusion of goats in the composition reflects her interest in the natural world, and her compositions often feature figures or animals interacting harmoniously with their surroundings. Condition Report: Framed: 67.5 x 79cm Presents well overall. A small loss in the extreme upper right corner. Two tiny splits/ losses to the paint to the top of the left edge.There is a small brown spot in the sky along the upper edge on the right side. There is a very fine 5cm long horizontal crack in the lower left quarter with two smaller cracks starting to emerge in the same area. A faint dirty line to the bottom of the left edge. Spots and speckles of light surface dirt. Not examined under UV light, for a full report please contact the department.
§ WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH, 1893-1981) WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH, 1893-1981) White Church Skopelos coloured chalk 33.5 x 49.5 cm. (13 1/4 x 19 5/8 in.) Executed circa 1961 Provenance With Wendy Bray, Rugby, 2 December 1989, where purchased by the present owner Exhibition London, Redfern Gallery, Winifred Nicholson: Wild Flowers in Greece, 30 Sep-30 Oct 1964, cat.no.19 as White Church Skopolis (sic) We are grateful to Jovan Nicholson for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Property from the Collection of Joanna Matthews Winifred Nicholson 1893-1981 Joanna Roberts at Burtholme signed Winifred Nicholson, titled and dated c. 1933 (on the reverse) oil and pencil on board unframed (board): 58.5 by 52.5cm.; 23 by 20½in. framed: 69 by 63cm.; 27 by 23¾in. Executed circa 1933. We are grateful to Jovan Nicholson for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.
Property from the Collection of Joanna Matthews Winifred Nicholson 1893 - 1981 Boothby Hyacinths signed Winifred Nicholson (on the reverse on the stretcher) oil on canvas unframed: 41 by 48.5cm.; 16 by 19in. framed: 57 by 64.5cm.; 22½ by 25½in. Executed circa 1950. With a further landscape painting by the same hand (verso). We are grateful to Jovan Nicholson for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1981) SOUND OF RUM FROM BAY OF LAIG, ISLE OF EIGG (THE SINGING SANDS), EARLY 1950s oil on board 58cm x 83.5cm (22 ¾in x 32 7/8in) Acquired from the Artist by her elder son, the late Jake (Jacob) Nicholson (1927-2003) and thence by descent to the present owner Exhibited: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Winifred Nicholson in Scotland, 10 July - 7 September 2003 and touring to Duff House, Banff, 8 November 2003 – 18 January 2004 and An Tuireann, Skye, 24 January – 20 March 2004;Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, on long-loan 2019 - 2024.Literature:Strang, Alice, Winifred Nicholson in Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003, pp. 47-8, p. 51, pl. 23, illustrated. “‘Thirty years separate Winifred’s first and last known stays on Eigg; the first visit was with Kathleen [Raine] from June until July 1950. The last, which was to be her final working trip, was with her daughter Kate in May 1980…In 1950 Winifred and Kathleen stayed in the manse at night, but during the day worked in a crofter’s cottage at Kildonan…[They]…walked to Cleadale in the north of the island, Eigg’s only surviving group of crofts and it was near here that Winifred painted Sound of Rum from Bay of Laig, Isle of Eigg.’” (Alice Strang, Winifred Nicholson in Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003 p.47-48)Rhododendrons, Eigg (Pink Rhododendrons) and Sound of Rum from Bay of Laig, Isle of Eigg (The Singing Sands) epitomise Winifred Nicholson’s love for Scotland and in particular the Hebridean island of Eigg. They were acquired from the artist by her son, the designer Jake (Jacob) Nicholson (1927-2003), who cherished them for the rest of his life.Nicholson worked in Scotland repeatedly in the late 1940s and early 1950s, often accompanied by her friend, the poet Kathleen Raine (1908-2003). They stayed on the islands of Eigg and Canna and also in Sandaig on the mainland; there they rented Gavin Maxwell’s cottage, which he immortalised as Camusfèarna in his Ring of Bright Water trilogy.Eigg is just five miles long by five miles wide and is situated twelve miles from Mallaig on the mainland, just south of Skye. Some three decades passed between Nicholson’s first trip there, in the summer of 1950 with Raine and her last, in the Spring of 1980, with her daughter, the artist Kate Nicholson (1929-2019). Raine had idyllic memories of her and Nicholson’s first experience of the island, later recalling: ‘The Factor [of Eigg] was previously employed by Winifred’s father...and he allowed us to camp during the day in an uninhabited cottage where Winifred painted and I wrote, or walked off gathering flowers, many of which Winifred painted…We boiled water and made ourselves cups of tea from time to time and enjoyed the illusion of living there…On our first visit to Eigg I remember it was sultry summer weather and we walked to the top of the island.’ (Quoted in Alice Strang, Winifred Nicholson in Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003, p.47)In her turn, whilst there Nicholson wrote to Jake exclaiming ‘Kathleen has written some magical poems. I’ve done about 16 pictures here, how good I don’t know until I get back to look at them against other things.’ (quoted in Strang, op.cit., p.48).Sound of Rum from Bay of Laig, Isle of Eigg reveals Nicholson’s deep connection with the Scottish sea- and landscape and her sensitivity to the gentle, shimmering light unique to the area. The bay, on Eigg’s west coast, commands fine views over the sea to Rum, whose Cuillin peaks are seen emerging from diaphanous clouds. There is a sense of island remoteness and purity. This painting is also known as The Singing Sands after the nearby beach of Camas Sgiotaig, where in certain conditions the sand makes noises when walked upon. This magical natural phenomenon has been explained by Geoffrey Grigson thus:‘Dry blown sand around the coast may emit an unexpected sound, slight or pronounced, when you walk over it or drag a stick across it. Off the dunes and below the high-tide mark, water is drawn in and held between the grains of sand by capillary action. The grains do not touch. Without this water cushion dry grains rub together when they are moved, and if they are of the same shape and size they jerk against or across each other as they do so, vibrating and “singing”.’ (Geoffrey Grigson, The Shell Country Alphabet, from Apple Trees to Stone Circles, How to Understand the British Countryside, Particular Books, London, 2009, p.344)When creating the work, Nicholson positioned herself behind and above the white foreshore in order to embrace the curve of the bay. Undulating ground, cliff and hill combine to create an awareness of natural rhythm, heightened by the edge of the wave at the boundary between water and beach. The sky holds muted sunshine as well as a suggestion of something more powerful. The delicate palette, based on blue, green and grey, carries an atmosphere of peace, beauty and a sense of wonder. Nicholson and Kate spent two weeks on Eigg in May 1980, accompanied at first by the artist Donald Wilkinson (b.1937) and his family and secondly by the artists Valerie Thornton (1931-91) and Michael Chase (1915-2001). This time she stayed in the Gamekeeper’s Cottage. As Alice Strang has explained:‘The Gamekeeper’s Cottage is the highest house on the island, with panoramic views across the sea to the mainland. Due to the atmospheric conditions in the area, rainbows occur there with unusual frequency. From an early age Winifred had been fascinated by them, as they were a natural display of the splitting of light into the colour spectrum.’ (Strang, op.cit., p.50) This phenomenon is celebrated in Rhododendrons, Eigg. A painting infused with colour and joy, it was created with the aid of a prism that Nicholson had recently acquired. Her series of prismatic paintings, of which Rhododendrons, Eigg is one of the finest, were extremely important to the artist. Her grandson, Jovan Nicholson has explained, quoting her:‘The way Winifred used a prism is straightforward: when you look through a prism the objects you see are rimmed with rainbow colours. “[My] prism is in a back pocket in my purse. I can put my hand into my pocket and pull it out whenever I want to see a rainbow. For the prism shows us rainbows everywhere.” She valued her prism as “a very little pot of gold”, for she “found out what flowers know, how to divide the colours as prisms do, onto longer and shorter wavelengths, and in so doing giving the luminosity and brilliance of pure colours…in the ordered sequence of the octave of colour.”’ (Jovan Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson: Liberation of Colour, Philip Wilson Publishers, London, 2016, p 32)Moreover, Nicholson was drawn to paint flowers for much of her career, partly as a way to explore her theory that ‘colour is not just a coat over objects – it lies on the rim of objects between one form and the neighbouring form or space.’ (quoted in Judith Collins, Winifred Nicholson, The Tate Gallery, London, 1987, p.31). She sensed that flowers:‘…create colours out of the light of the sun, refracted by the rainbow prism…The flowers are sparks of light, built of and thrown out into the air as rainbows are thrown, in an arc…My paint brush always gives a tremor of pleasure when I let it paint a flower…to me they are the secret of the cosmos.’ (quoted in ed. Andrew Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson: Unknown Colour, Faber & Faber, London, 1987, pp. 239 & 216)The rainbows that shimmer amidst the titular flowers in Rhododendrons, Eigg heighten the viewer’s awareness of their delicate beauty, as well as that of the patterned cloth on which they are presented and the expanse of their natural surroundings. These are more sensed and glimpsed than simply seen, in an image in which an element of spirituality is combined with heartfelt optimism. Sound of Rum from Bay of Laig, Isle of Eigg (The Singing Sands) and Rhododendrons, Eigg (Pink Rhododendrons) were included in the National Galleries of Scotland touring exhibition Winifred Nicholson in Scotland (2003-04) and were reproduced in the accompanying book by Alice Strang. They returned to a Scottish island when they were on long-loan to the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney between 2019 and 2024 (Nicholson having painted there during the summer of 1953). Examples of Nicholson’s Scottish paintings can be found in the public collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario (Mrs Campbell’s Window, 1951), Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (Flodigarry Island, Skye, 1949) and Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, Carlisle (Bonnie Scotland, c.1951).We are grateful to Jovan Nicholson for his help in researching these paintings.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1981) RHODODENDRONS, EIGG (PINK RHODODENDRONS), 1980 Oil on canvas 43cm x 58cm (16 7/8in x 22 ¾in) Acquired from the Artist by her elder son, the late Jake (Jacob) Nicholson (1927-2003) and thence by descent to the present owner Exhibited: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Winifred Nicholson in Scotland, 10 July - 7 September 2003 and touring to Duff House, Banff, 8 November 2003 – 18 January 2004 and An Tuireann, Skye, 24 January – 20 March 2004;Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, on long-loan 2019 - 2024.Literature: Nicholson, Andrew (ed.), Winifred Nicholson: Unknown Colour, London, 1987, p. 74, illustrated;Strang, Alice, Winifred Nicholson in Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003, p.53, p. 52, pl. 24, illustrated. “On Eigg, at the age of eighty-six, Winifred created a vigorous late body of work…During this final working trip, Winifred was able to combine her deeply felt love of Scotland and fascination with the light there, with her lifelong concern for colour and the edges of the visible spectrum. In works such as Rhododendrons, Eigg and Hebridean Roses, Eigg (Private Collection) she looked through a prism in order to paint flowers, picked on the island, which created the spectrum of light caught in the glass vessels. In both works she set the flowers before seascapes which shimmer with northern spring light.”(Alice Strang, Winifred Nicholson in Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003, p.53)Rhododendrons, Eigg (Pink Rhododendrons) and Sound of Rum from Bay of Laig, Isle of Eigg (The Singing Sands) epitomise Winifred Nicholson’s love for Scotland and in particular the Hebridean island of Eigg. They were acquired from the artist by her son, the designer Jake (Jacob) Nicholson (1927-2003), who cherished them for the rest of his life.Nicholson worked in Scotland repeatedly in the late 1940s and early 1950s, often accompanied by her friend, the poet Kathleen Raine (1908-2003). They stayed on the islands of Eigg and Canna and also in Sandaig on the mainland; there they rented Gavin Maxwell’s cottage, which he immortalised as Camusfèarna in his Ring of Bright Water trilogy.Eigg is just five miles long by five miles wide and is situated twelve miles from Mallaig on the mainland, just south of Skye. Some three decades passed between Nicholson’s first trip there, in the summer of 1950 with Raine and her last, in the Spring of 1980, with her daughter, the artist Kate Nicholson (1929-2019). Raine had idyllic memories of her and Nicholson’s first experience of the island, later recalling: ‘The Factor [of Eigg] was previously employed by Winifred’s father...and he allowed us to camp during the day in an uninhabited cottage where Winifred painted and I wrote, or walked off gathering flowers, many of which Winifred painted…We boiled water and made ourselves cups of tea from time to time and enjoyed the illusion of living there…On our first visit to Eigg I remember it was sultry summer weather and we walked to the top of the island.’ (Quoted in Alice Strang, Winifred Nicholson in Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003, p.47)In her turn, whilst there Nicholson wrote to Jake exclaiming ‘Kathleen has written some magical poems. I’ve done about 16 pictures here, how good I don’t know until I get back to look at them against other things.’ (quoted in Strang, op.cit., p.48).Sound of Rum from Bay of Laig, Isle of Eigg reveals Nicholson’s deep connection with the Scottish sea- and landscape and her sensitivity to the gentle, shimmering light unique to the area. The bay, on Eigg’s west coast, commands fine views over the sea to Rum, whose Cuillin peaks are seen emerging from diaphanous clouds. There is a sense of island remoteness and purity. This painting is also known as The Singing Sands after the nearby beach of Camas Sgiotaig, where in certain conditions the sand makes noises when walked upon. This magical natural phenomenon has been explained by Geoffrey Grigson thus:‘Dry blown sand around the coast may emit an unexpected sound, slight or pronounced, when you walk over it or drag a stick across it. Off the dunes and below the high-tide mark, water is drawn in and held between the grains of sand by capillary action. The grains do not touch. Without this water cushion dry grains rub together when they are moved, and if they are of the same shape and size they jerk against or across each other as they do so, vibrating and “singing”.’ (Geoffrey Grigson, The Shell Country Alphabet, from Apple Trees to Stone Circles, How to Understand the British Countryside, Particular Books, London, 2009, p.344)When creating the work, Nicholson positioned herself behind and above the white foreshore in order to embrace the curve of the bay. Undulating ground, cliff and hill combine to create an awareness of natural rhythm, heightened by the edge of the wave at the boundary between water and beach. The sky holds muted sunshine as well as a suggestion of something more powerful. The delicate palette, based on blue, green and grey, carries an atmosphere of peace, beauty and a sense of wonder. Nicholson and Kate spent two weeks on Eigg in May 1980, accompanied at first by the artist Donald Wilkinson (b.1937) and his family and secondly by the artists Valerie Thornton (1931-91) and Michael Chase (1915-2001). This time she stayed in the Gamekeeper’s Cottage. As Alice Strang has explained:‘The Gamekeeper’s Cottage is the highest house on the island, with panoramic views across the sea to the mainland. Due to the atmospheric conditions in the area, rainbows occur there with unusual frequency. From an early age Winifred had been fascinated by them, as they were a natural display of the splitting of light into the colour spectrum.’ (Strang, op.cit., p.50) This phenomenon is celebrated in Rhododendrons, Eigg. A painting infused with colour and joy, it was created with the aid of a prism that Nicholson had recently acquired. Her series of prismatic paintings, of which Rhododendrons, Eigg is one of the finest, were extremely important to the artist. Her grandson, Jovan Nicholson has explained, quoting her:‘The way Winifred used a prism is straightforward: when you look through a prism the objects you see are rimmed with rainbow colours. “[My] prism is in a back pocket in my purse. I can put my hand into my pocket and pull it out whenever I want to see a rainbow. For the prism shows us rainbows everywhere.” She valued her prism as “a very little pot of gold”, for she “found out what flowers know, how to divide the colours as prisms do, onto longer and shorter wavelengths, and in so doing giving the luminosity and brilliance of pure colours…in the ordered sequence of the octave of colour.”’ (Jovan Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson: Liberation of Colour, Philip Wilson Publishers, London, 2016, p 32)Moreover, Nicholson was drawn to paint flowers for much of her career, partly as a way to explore her theory that ‘colour is not just a coat over objects – it lies on the rim of objects between one form and the neighbouring form or space.’ (quoted in Judith Collins, Winifred Nicholson, The Tate Gallery, London, 1987, p.31). She sensed that flowers:‘…create colours out of the light of the sun, refracted by the rainbow prism…The flowers are sparks of light, built of and thrown out into the air as rainbows are thrown, in an arc…My paint brush always gives a tremor of pleasure when I let it paint a flower…to me they are the secret of the cosmos.’ (quoted in ed. Andrew Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson: Unknown Colour, Faber & Faber, London, 1987, pp. 239 & 216)The rainbows that shimmer amidst the titular flowers in Rhododendrons, Eigg heighten the viewer’s awareness of their delicate beauty, as well as that of the patterned cloth on which they are presented and the expanse of their natural surroundings. These are more sensed and glimpsed than simply seen, in an image in which an element of spirituality is combined with heartfelt optimism. Sound of Rum from Bay of Laig, Isle of Eigg (The Singing Sands) and Rhododendrons, Eigg (Pink Rhododendrons) were included in the National Galleries of Scotland touring exhibition Winifred Nicholson in Scotland (2003-04) and were reproduced in the accompanying book by Alice Strang. They returned to a Scottish island when they were on long-loan to the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney between 2019 and 2024 (Nicholson having painted there during the summer of 1953). Examples of Nicholson’s Scottish paintings can be found in the public collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario (Mrs Campbell’s Window, 1951), Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (Flodigarry Island, Skye, 1949) and Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, Carlisle (Bonnie Scotland, c.1951).We are grateful to Jovan Nicholson for his help in researching these paintings.
§ WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH, 1893-1981) WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH, 1893-1981) White Church Skopelos coloured chalk 33.5 x 49.5 cm. (13 1/4 x 19 5/8 in.) Executed circa 1961 Provenance With Wendy Bray, Rugby, 2 December 1989, where purchased by the present owner Exhibition Possibly; Redfern Gallery, Winifred Nicholson: Wild Flowers in Greece, September 1964 We are grateful to Jovan Nicholson for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1981) PLUM BLOSSOM, GREECE, 1973 signed, titled and dated (to reverse), gouache and pastel 40.5cm x 29.5 cm (16in x 11 5/8in) Redfern Gallery, London, from whom acquired by the present owners, July 1993;The Collection of Drs Antony and Zarrina Kurtz.
Winifred Nicholson (British, 1893-1981) Minoan Goddess acrylic, gouache, chalk and watercolour on paper 54 x 79cm (21 1/4 x 31 1/8in). Executed circa 1960-1964
Winifred Nicholson (British, 1893-1981) My Bedroom Window signed, titled and dated 'Winifred Nicholson 1973/'My Bedroom Window' (verso) oil on canvasboard 48.5 x 58.8 cm. (19 1/8 x 23 1/8 in.)
Winifred Nicholson (British, 1893-1981) Flowers in Snow, Bankshead signed and dated 'Winifred Nicholson/1967' (verso) and titled 'FLOWERS IN SNOW BANKSHEAD' (on the canvas overlap) oil on canvas 56 x 76.4 cm. (22 x 30 in.)
Winifred Nicholson British 1893 - 1981 Window inscribed with the artist's name, the title and medium on an Everard Read gallery label adhered to the reverse oil on board 33 by 24cm excluding frame; 54 by 45,5 by 4,5cm including frame
Winifred Nicholson (British, 1893-1981) Port Isaac, Cornwall signed and titled 'Porth Isaac Cornwall Winifred Nicholson' [sic] (on the stretcher bar) oil and metallic spraypaint on canvas 60.5 x 86 cm. (23 7/8 x 33 7/8 in.) Painted circa 1970 with a further painting of a cove to the reverse, by the same hand
Winifred Nicholson, British 1893-1981 - Flowers; crayon on paper, 33.5 x 48.7 cm (ARR) Provenance: Sotheby's, London, 30th September 1992, lot 117 (unsold - according to the inscription on the reverse of the frame); with Elena Gaputyte; private collection, purchased from the estate of the above (according to the inscription on the reverse of the frame); private collection Note: Elena Gaputyte ran the Sail Loft Gallery, St. Ives, and was familiar with the celebrated artists of the era, such as Ben Nicholson, Peter Lanyon and Barbara Hepworth. This late work by Winifred Nicholson demonstrates the artist totally liberation of colour from form, the scene built up of energetic waves of pure colour. The artist was particularly interested in an understanding of light and translucency, and in later works such as this she experimented with a prism to explore of rainbow colours in everyday objects. This work was most likely made in Greece, where the artist visited frequently from the 1960s and which was the focus of numerous of her exhibitions, including at the Redfern Gallery in 1964.
Winifred Nicholson, British 1893-1981 - Flowers; crayon on paper, 33.5 x 48.7 cm (ARR) Provenance: Sotheby's, London, 30th September 1992, lot 117 (unsold - according to the inscription on the reverse of the frame); with Elena Gaputyte; private collection, purchased from the estate of the above (according to the inscription on the reverse of the frame); private collection Note: Elena Gaputyte ran the Sail Loft Gallery, St. Ives, and was familiar with the celebrated artists of the era, such as Ben Nicholson, Peter Lanyon and Barbara Hepworth. This late work by Winifred Nicholson demonstrates the artist totally liberation of colour from form, the scene built up of energetic waves of pure colour. The artist was particularly interested in an understanding of light and translucency, and in later works such as this she experimented with a prism to explore of rainbow colours in everyday objects. This work was most likely made in Greece, where the artist visited frequently from the 1960s and which was the focus of numerous of her exhibitions, including at the Redfern Gallery in 1964.
§ WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1981) FROM THE TOP OF THE HILL OF FIRE, 1964 Inscribed and dated verso, pastel on paper (34cm x 49.25cm (13.25in x 19.25in)) Provenance: Acquired from the artist by Jake Nicholson and thence by descent to the present owner
§ Winifred Nicholson (British 1893-1981) Pylos, 1965 inscribed (to reverse), pastel on buff paper (56cm x 60cm (22 1/4in x 23 3/4in)) Provenance: Estate of the Artist and thence by descent to the present owner.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (1893-1981) Marsh Iris WINIFRED NICHOLSON (1893-1981) /Marsh Iris/ signed, inscribed and dated 'MARSH Iris Winifred Nicholson 1969' (on the stretcher) oil on canvas 20 x 26 in. (50.8 x 66 cm.) Painted in 1969.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON (1893-1981) Japanese Anemones WINIFRED NICHOLSON (1893-1981) /Japanese Anemones/ signed, inscribed and dated 'Japanese Anemones/Painted in Paris 1920 (?)/Winifred Nicholson' (on the backboard) oil on board 21 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (55 x 50 cm.) Painted /circa /1930.
λ WINIFRED NICHOLSON (BRITISH 1893-1981)SUN HAZEOil and gouache on paper49.5 x 60cm (19¼ x 23½ in.)Executed circa 1965.Provenance: Redfern Gallery, LondonPrivate Collection (acquired from the above in February 1989)
Winifred Nicholson 1893 - 1981 Star of Bethlehem and Viper's Vetch signed Winifred Nicholson, titled and dated 1965 (on the reverse) gouache on paper unframed: 38.5 by 56.5cm.; 15¼ by 22¼in. framed: 56 by 72.5cm; 22 by 28½in. Executed in 1965. We are grateful to Jovan Nicholson for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work. Bid on Sotheby's
Winifred Nicholson (British, 1893-1981) February oil, crayon and silver spray paint on board 57.8 x 60.5 cm. (22 3/4 x 23 3/4 in.) For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
§ Winifred Nicholson (British 1893-1981) Blue Sea Goddess inscribed (to reverse), oil on canvas (50cm x 65cm (19.75in x 25.5in), unframed) Footnote: Provenance: The Estate of the Artist, and thence by descent.
§ Winifred Nicholson (British 1893-1981) Flowering Tree / Donkeys at a Well / Branch with Flowers pastel on cream paper / pastel on cream paper / inscribed (lower left), crayon on cream paper respectively, all unframed (36.8cm x 49.4cm (14.5in x 19.5in); 35.3cm x 50.6cm (13.8in x 22 in) and 37.8cm x 50.4cm (14.75in x 19.75in)) Qty: (3) Provenance: Acquired from the artist by Jake Nicholson and thence by descent to the present owner.
§ Winifred Nicholson (British 1893-1981) Rainbow Over the Sea pastel on paper (41cm x 55.8cm (16.15in x 22in)) Provenance: Acquired from the artist by Jake Nicholson and thence by descent to the present owner.
§ Winifred Nicholson (British 1893-1981) Study for 'Serpent Votaries', early 1960s / Turquoise Flowers and other studies and Fish Detail and other studies (double-sided) crayon on cream paper and crayon on cream paper (double-sided), both unframed (35.4cm x 50.6cm (14 x 19.8in) and 35.6cm x 50.8cm (13.75in x 20in)) Qty: (2) Provenance: Acquired from the artist by Jake Nicholson and thence by descent to the present owner. Footnote: Study for 'Serpent Votaries' is related to the watercolour Serpent Votaries of 1963, on loan to Pallant House Gallery, Chichester from a private collection. Judith Collins, curator of the 1987 Tate retrospective exhibition of Winifred Nicholson’s work has explained: ‘The myths of particular places fascinated the artist. She read widely of the Celtic and early British myths of her area of Roman Britain; and also, when she began to visit Greece, of Greek myths. The continuing occupation of the land by figures from history was a belief of hers; people could slip in and out of time scales.’ (Judith Collins, Winifred Nicholson, Tate Gallery, London, 1987 p. 94).
