Painter, Printmaker & Dandy

A visit to the William Nicholson exhibition at Pallant House Gallery was a great way to brighten up a cold January day. I had seen Nicholson's Silver Casket and Red Leather Basket at a previous exhibition and I knew he was the father of Ben Nicholson, who had been one of the pioneers of British abstract art. I thought that was the extent of my knowledge but stepping into the first room of this gorgeous exhibition, I recognised many of the prints on display, especially the one of Queen Victoria and her little dog, which was from a series of woodcut portraits of well-known figures of Victorian society that brought Nicholson recognition in the 1890s. Seeing these images brought back memories of childhood picture books and my teenage passion for Victorian prints and posters: I used to spend hours poring over library books illustrated with works by Aubrey Beardsley, Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha and (I now realised) William Nicholson.

There were three strands to Nicholson’s career: he initially created pioneering posters and woodcuts: he then went on to gain recognition as a portrait painter; and his later work focused on still life and landscape painting. In 1893, Nicholson eloped with Mabel Pryde, who was an artist herself. Nicholson’s first artistic success came posters designed in collaborated with his brother-in-law James Pryde. They worked under the name The Beggarstaffs. Next, Nicholson developed his woodcut style and with support from his friend Whistler, his work was used to illustrate a variety of books, including poems by Kipling, London Types, An Alphabet and The Square Book of Animals. Later, in 1922, he illustrated the children’s classic, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. By the turn of the century, he was making a name as a portrait painter; and in 1904 JM Barrie invited him to design costumes and scenery for the first production of Peter Pan.

The 1907 painting A Bloomsbury Family by William Orpen shows Nicholson at home with his wife Mabel and their four children: Nancy, Tony and Ben sit at the table while Kit stands in his baby dress. Nicholson painted striking portraits of his children: Nancy with Feather Hat (1910); and The Artist's Son Ben (c1908).

Kit grew up to be an architect and designer; Nancy became an artist and textile designer and she married the poet Robert Graves; Ben achieved international recognition as a modernist painter and his second wife was Barbara Hepworth. Tony died in France during the First World War. Mabel was a casualty of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. The following year, Nicholson’s marriage to Edie, also a painter, caused a rift between him and Ben, who had been sweet on Edie himself.

In 1909, Nicholson was living in Rottingdean and he made a series of plein air oil sketches of the Sussex downs and coast: I particularly liked Near Littlehampton (1906). Another landscape that caught my eye was A Glade near Midhurst (1936). Most appealing to me were Nicholson's still life paintings: Silver (1938) and Poppies in Pewter (1934) are beautiful examples of his mastery of depicting reflective surfaces.

Nicholson was a prolific artist, he declined to exhibit with any contemporary art societies and he did not belong to any movement. He developed a reputation as an Edwardian dandy and even when painting in his studio, he wore white trousers, a fancy waistcoat, a bow tie and patent leather shoes. He was knighted in 1936 for his services to art.