SP 4454
WINIFRED NICHOLSON NEAC
Oxford 1893 - 1981 Brampton
Lily of the Valley, South Parlour
Signed and inscribed ‘South Parlour/Winifred Nicholson/Bankshead Brampton/Cumberland £30’ on a label attached to the reverse
Panel: 24 ¾ x 24 ¾ in / 63 x 63 cm
Frame size: 30 ¾ x 31 in / 78.1 x 78.7 cm
Provenance:
Lefevre Gallery, London
Private collection, a gift from the artist’s nephew in the 1970s
On the reverse there is a partially obscured portrait thought to be of Ben Nicholson, presumably by the artist.
In 1922, during a visit to the Villa Capriccio near Lake Lugano Winifred Nicholson and her husband Ben found themselves inspired by their surroundings and both painted with great passion and enthusiasm. Winifred recalled that during that period ‘our painting came to flowering point. It had hatched – Ben had given me a pot of lilies of the valley, Mughetti, in a tissue paper wrapper – this I stood on the window sill, behind was azure blue, mountain, like, sky, all there and the tissue paper wrapper held the secret of the universe. That picture painted itself, and after that the same theme painted itself on that window sill…sunlight on leaves, and sunlight shining transparent through leaves…’ (see exhibition catalogue, Winifred Nicholson, London, Tate Gallery, 1987, pp.16). This painting, with its simple components, provided the foundation for most of her future works.
Over the coming years Winifred’s oeuvre developed, but the essential elements of her ‘flowerpieces’ remained a constant. The present painting was executed at Bankshead, the 17th century stone farmhouse purchased by the Nicholsons in 1923. Winifred was enchanted by the house and described it thus: ‘Banks Head was not sad, it smiled a welcome …Within its thick stone walls its fire held its comfort, its glow, its warmth…We started to alter the house – Ben made large windows to let in the wide view of the hills, Cold Fell and Tindale Fell, upon which you could walk down the Pennines, all down the backbone of England.’ (Unknown colour, paintings, letters, writings by Winifred Nicholson, p 44).
Lily of the Valley, South Parlour, thought to have been painted circa 1950, is a classic example of one of Nicholson’s iconic flowerpieces, bursting with vibrant colour it is painted with confidence and a unique sense of style.
Mughetti, circa 1922. Private collection
WINIFRED NICHOLSON NEAC
Oxford 1893 - 1981 Brampton
A painter of colourful, lively figurative paintings, still lives and landscapes Winifred Nicholson was a quintessentially British painter. After studying at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London she first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1914 under her maiden name Winifred Roberts, she then travelled extensively studying in Paris, Lugano and India. In 1920 she met and married Ben Nicholson, the son of the distinguished artist, Sir William Nicholson and she continued to exhibit widely both on her own and with her husband. A member of the Seven and Five Society and the New English Art Club she also exhibited abstract works under the name Winifred Dacre at the London Gallery in 1937. In 1931 she separated from Ben Nicholson and moved to Paris where she lived until 1938 when she returned to live at Brampton in Cumbria near Hadrian’s Wall. Works by Winifred Nicholson can be seen in many public collections including Tate Britain.
Best known for her vibrant flower paintings she once wrote ‘when one is young one is satisfied with a flower petal or a sparkle. Now I want more. I want the rainbow scale of the flower and the reason and the travel of the sparkle ’.