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Lot Essay
In 1920 Winifred married Ben Nicholson and for a short while they lived near Lake Lugano in Switzerland. In 1923 they returned to England and made their home in Cumbria and the house Bankshead which was to be her home for the rest of her life.
Use of colour was always integral to Nicholson's work. A trip to India with her father, who had been Secretary of State for India, a few years earlier had exposed her to the vibrancy of the colours of the sub-continent and bold, bright reds, oranges and violets were to remain favourites. Whilst studying in Paris, Winifred had formed close artistic and intellectual relationships with Piet Mondrian and Alberto Giacometti, also admiring the work of Modigliani and Rousseau. Working alongside her husband she could observe his exceptional capacity to place single accents of bright colour so that they radiated throughout a picture. In Ben Nicholson's Cortivallo, Lugano, 1921-23 (Tate Britain) a red house provides the focus of the image, surrounded by the wintry greys and browns of the desolate landscape. In Red Geranium the placement of a single glowing crimson flower head against the tonal background of greys and blues provides the perfect compositional element.
Use of colour was always integral to Nicholson's work. A trip to India with her father, who had been Secretary of State for India, a few years earlier had exposed her to the vibrancy of the colours of the sub-continent and bold, bright reds, oranges and violets were to remain favourites. Whilst studying in Paris, Winifred had formed close artistic and intellectual relationships with Piet Mondrian and Alberto Giacometti, also admiring the work of Modigliani and Rousseau. Working alongside her husband she could observe his exceptional capacity to place single accents of bright colour so that they radiated throughout a picture. In Ben Nicholson's Cortivallo, Lugano, 1921-23 (Tate Britain) a red house provides the focus of the image, surrounded by the wintry greys and browns of the desolate landscape. In Red Geranium the placement of a single glowing crimson flower head against the tonal background of greys and blues provides the perfect compositional element.