abstract art | wood | rectangles | circle (plane figure) | still life
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
Art in Focus : St Ives Abstraction (Yale Center for British Art, 2013-04-12 - 2013-09-29)20th Century Paintings and Sculpture (Yale Center for British Art, 2000-01-27 - 2000-04-30)
Publications:
Ben Nicholson, September 1960 (Wood), by Ben Nicholson, O.M., signed, inscribed and dated on the reverse, oil and pencil on panel, 17in. by 21 in. [Ad], Apollo, vol. 94, October 1971, p. 15, N1 +A54 94:2 (YCBA)Christie's sale catalogue : Modern British Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture : 29 Oct 1971, Christie's, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, October 29, 1971, p. 58-59, Lot 221, Auction Catalogues (YCBA)Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 1, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)St Ives abstraction, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2013, pp. 12, 22, V 2475 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
Ben Nicholson’s attraction to the play of different materials is evident in this painting, in which he layered oil paint and graphite onto the plywood panel. Nicholson then used a razor blade to carve away the surface, revealing a layer of the wood support underneath. Razors were one of Nicholson’s favorite tools during the 1960s. He called them “very sensitive instruments and no sharpening necessary as you merely take a fresh one.” Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016