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Lot Essay
Painted in 1933, this sophisticated still-life by Sir William Nicholson is the only recorded work of Sunflowers by the artist. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Nicholson’s still-life practice was focussed heavily on floral arrangements presented in a variety of jugs or vases. The art historian and dealer of Nicholson’s work, Lillian Browse, described this series of paintings in her monograph on the artist as ‘the most delightful flower pictures ever painted by an English artist’ (L. Browse, William Nicholson, London, 1956, p. 24). Executed with a rich impasto and vibrant palette composed of chrome yellows and terracotta hues, the present work is one of the more colourful and optimistic paintings within the artist’s oeuvre. The vase, which is decorated with a pattern of circular motifs, shimmers in the strong natural light cast upon it, and is further brought to life by the large white highlight in the centre which is almost sculptural in its complexion.
The Spanish pottery jug that features in this painting was probably purchased during his holiday in Seville at the beginning of 1933 as a present for his daughter, Nancy. This was the artist’s first trip to the country - Seville being the home-town of his favourite artist, Velazquez, and the influence of his six-week trip there can be felt in the present work. Other paintings from the same year such as Vegetable Still Life, 1933 (Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada), and Portrait of Diana Low, 1933 (private collection) also display a sensitivity to colour and light that was informed by his travels in Spain. Further to these qualities, it was a letter that Nicholson wrote when he was staying with Nancy at her home in Sutton Veny, Wiltshire in the autumn of 1933 that allows us to further attribute Sunflowers to this sought after period. Nicholson wrote to his friend and former student, Diana Low, informing her of his excitement to be painting the Sunflowers.
By 1933, Nicholson had already established his reputation as one of the most famous living painters in Britain. A major retrospective exhibition of his work began that year which toured England and Northern Ireland. Elaborating on the importance of his floral still lifes of this period, Browse continues: ‘Contrasting with the famous seventeenth century Dutch flower paintings, and in harmony with those of Manet, Nicholson in these little canvases realised that fleeting evanescent quality of flowers which alone can give subjects a life of their own and avoid their being just splendid decorations’ (ibid, p. 24). It is clear that Sunflowers was executed by an artist with an abundance of confidence, and the economy of brushwork exemplified in the present work places this painting among the finest of the series. Here, Nicholson has employed a cropped and highly focussed composition, which provides a modern immediacy to the work, with the petals of the flowers protruding through the upper and right hand edges. The delicacy of the curling petals is beautifully picked out against the rough nature of the pottery jug – a contrast seemingly intended to highlight each element of the composition, allowing Nicholson to demonstrate his unequivocal mastery of still life painting.
We are very grateful to Patricia Reed for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
The Spanish pottery jug that features in this painting was probably purchased during his holiday in Seville at the beginning of 1933 as a present for his daughter, Nancy. This was the artist’s first trip to the country - Seville being the home-town of his favourite artist, Velazquez, and the influence of his six-week trip there can be felt in the present work. Other paintings from the same year such as Vegetable Still Life, 1933 (Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada), and Portrait of Diana Low, 1933 (private collection) also display a sensitivity to colour and light that was informed by his travels in Spain. Further to these qualities, it was a letter that Nicholson wrote when he was staying with Nancy at her home in Sutton Veny, Wiltshire in the autumn of 1933 that allows us to further attribute Sunflowers to this sought after period. Nicholson wrote to his friend and former student, Diana Low, informing her of his excitement to be painting the Sunflowers.
By 1933, Nicholson had already established his reputation as one of the most famous living painters in Britain. A major retrospective exhibition of his work began that year which toured England and Northern Ireland. Elaborating on the importance of his floral still lifes of this period, Browse continues: ‘Contrasting with the famous seventeenth century Dutch flower paintings, and in harmony with those of Manet, Nicholson in these little canvases realised that fleeting evanescent quality of flowers which alone can give subjects a life of their own and avoid their being just splendid decorations’ (ibid, p. 24). It is clear that Sunflowers was executed by an artist with an abundance of confidence, and the economy of brushwork exemplified in the present work places this painting among the finest of the series. Here, Nicholson has employed a cropped and highly focussed composition, which provides a modern immediacy to the work, with the petals of the flowers protruding through the upper and right hand edges. The delicacy of the curling petals is beautifully picked out against the rough nature of the pottery jug – a contrast seemingly intended to highlight each element of the composition, allowing Nicholson to demonstrate his unequivocal mastery of still life painting.
We are very grateful to Patricia Reed for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.