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Portrait of Ben Nicholson

1928

$1,724.46
£1,275
€1,556.69
CA$2,459.08
A$2,521.37
CHF 1,436.59
MX$32,094.90
NOK 16,501.34
SEK 17,216.84
DKK 11,636.59

About the Item

Christopher ' Kit ' Wood 1901-1930, was an English painter who briefly attended Liverpool University to study architecture but pursued an artistic career. He trained at the Academy Julienne in Paris where he met some of the most famous artist of the day, Picasso, Cocteau, Diaghilev and others. He was a member of the London Group and the Seven and Five Society where he met and became friends of Ben and Winifred Nicholson, he stayed with them in 1928 in their North country cottage where it is thought this portrait was drawn. The writer Sebastien Faulks wrote a book called ' The Fatal Englishman ' which describes the possibility of the place, date and time of this picture, when Wood and Nicholson went out for a day of painting. I have listed below a biography of the artist for your interest. Christopher Wood (1901–1930) was an influential English painter. He combined raw, untutored styles with sophisticated modern techniques. His short life left a lasting mark on British modernism. Wood was born in Knowsley, near Liverpool. He survived a severe childhood bout of poliomyelitis. This illness caused a lifelong limp but sparked his interest in drawing. He briefly studied architecture at Liverpool University. In 1921, he moved to Paris to study art. He attended the Académie Julian and immersed himself in the avant-garde scene. Wood quickly befriended key figures like Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso. Picasso heavily influenced his early approach to form and figure drawing. In 1926, Wood joined the London Group and the Seven and Five Society. He formed close bonds with Ben and Winifred Nicholson. Together, they painted in Cumberland and Cornwall. In 1928, Wood and Ben Nicholson discovered self-taught fisherman-artist Alfred Wallis in St Ives. Wallis’s raw, direct style profoundly altered Wood's artistic direction. Wood adopted a deliberately naive approach, utilizing heavy brushwork, muted tones, and coastal themes. Wood wrestled with severe financial anxiety and a growing addiction to opium. Despite these struggles, his output in 1930 was astonishingly prolific. He spent the summer painting feverishly in Brittany, producing dozens of canvases. His mental health deteriorated due to drug-induced paranoia. On 21 August 1930, Wood fell under a train at Salisbury railway station and died at the age of 29. His unique fusion of English landscape painting and French modernism remains highly celebrated. His works are held in major public collections, including Tate Britain. In the Spring of 1928 Wood stayed at Bankshead, the Nicholsons' renovated, spartan stone farmhouse located in Cumbria (Cumberland). He spent an exhilarating six weeks working there during March and April 1928. Wood was deeply impacted by this trip, writing that the rustic "Bankshead life" was the ultimate "painter's life". We think that this drawing may have been produced during this trip. Thereafter in the Summer/Autumn 1928, he stayed in Cornwall the Location in August, Wood rejoined the Nicholsons in Feock, Cornwall. The Nicholsons were renting a house called Haylands, located near Pill Creek. Wood stayed with them through August and September. It was during this specific period that Wood and Ben Nicholson took a fateful day trip to St Ives and discovered the self-taught artist Alfred Wallis. After the Nicholsons returned to London in October, Wood extended his time in Cornwall, staying on alone in a rented cottage on Porthmeor Beach until November 1928.
  • Attributed to:
    Christopher Wood 1 (1901 - 1930, British)
  • Creation Year:
    1928
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 9 in (22.86 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Douglas, GB
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: No. 191stDibs: LU2373215418762

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