Art and Life: Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis, William Staite Murray, 1920 – 1931, Dulwich Picture Gallery, until 21st September 2014

Winifred Nicholson, Cyclamen and Primula, c.1922-3, oil on board, 50 x 55 cm, Courtesy of Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge/ © Trustees of Winifred Nicholson

If you haven’t already made the pilgrimage to see this exhibition then I do suggest you make the effort. It focuses on the ten year marriage of Winifred and Ben Nicholson, who are rightly numbered among the top echelon of 20th century British painters. It also looks at their friendships and exchange of ideas with their contemporaries Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and the ceramicist William Staite Murray.

Christopher Wood, Zebra and Parachute, 1930, oil on canvas, 55.4 x 61.2 cm, © Tate, London 2013

Alfred Wallis, The Schooner the Beata, Penzance, Mount’s Bay, and Newlyn Harbour, Undated, Oil on board, 40 x 50.5 cm, Private Collection

The show, curated by the Nicholson’s grandson Jovan Nicholson, is grouped by location – London, Lugano, Cumberland and Cornwall – enables us to see the parallel views of the same scenes by the artists. It is an eloquently told story of a certain time in British Modern Art, especially Nicholson’s move towards Abstracts and ends appropriately with his 1935 (painting).

Ben Nicholson, 1935 (painting), 1935, Oil on canvas, 60 x 91 cm, Private Collection / © Angela Verren-Taunt 2013. All rights reserved, DACS

http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

William Staite Murray, Vortex, c. 1926-9, Stoneware Bowl, H 8.3, D 19, © York Museums Trust (York Art Gallery)