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Lot Essay
Nov 41 (table still life) was a gift from Ben Nicholson to Margaret Gardiner (1904-2005), the artist's friend and patron. As well as being a notable patron of the arts, she was a writer, an adopter of political causes and the founder of the ICA. She supported a wide group of artists associated with St Ives, including Barbara Hepworth, Naum Gabo, Terry Frost, Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon, Roger Hilton and Alfred Wallis. In the early days during their struggles for recognition she acquired these works through purchase, and later when they were more established as gifts from the artists.
Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth moved to Carbis Bay in Cornwall with their triplets shortly before the outbreak of war on the invitation of their friend, the painter and writer Adrian Stokes. By December 1939, the Nicholsons had their own accommodation, although space was still at a premium and both Nicholson's and Hepworth's work of this period was often on a small scale. Cramped conditions at their house, Dunluce resulted in a considerable drop in output (see J. Lewison, Ben Nicholson, 1991, p. 19).
In the 1950s Margaret Gardiner visited Orkney and fell in love with the islands, staying on the island of Rousay which she continued to visit well into her nineties. In 1978 she donated her mainly Cornish, and specifically St Ives art collection, to the people of Orkney. The sea-surrounded landscape of these islands is fittingly reminiscent of much of Cornwall, whose origin is integral to her art collection. The collection is now assembled and on view in two 18th Century buildings at the Pier Art Centre, Stromness, which opened to the public in July 1979.
Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth moved to Carbis Bay in Cornwall with their triplets shortly before the outbreak of war on the invitation of their friend, the painter and writer Adrian Stokes. By December 1939, the Nicholsons had their own accommodation, although space was still at a premium and both Nicholson's and Hepworth's work of this period was often on a small scale. Cramped conditions at their house, Dunluce resulted in a considerable drop in output (see J. Lewison, Ben Nicholson, 1991, p. 19).
In the 1950s Margaret Gardiner visited Orkney and fell in love with the islands, staying on the island of Rousay which she continued to visit well into her nineties. In 1978 she donated her mainly Cornish, and specifically St Ives art collection, to the people of Orkney. The sea-surrounded landscape of these islands is fittingly reminiscent of much of Cornwall, whose origin is integral to her art collection. The collection is now assembled and on view in two 18th Century buildings at the Pier Art Centre, Stromness, which opened to the public in July 1979.