Winifred Nicholson in Cumberland

Whilst staying in the Lake District last weekend we discovered an exhibition by twentieth century painter Winifred Nicholson at the Abbot Hall Gallery in Kendal.  It explores the work of Nicholson who was married to artist Ben Nicholson and is curated by her grandson, art historian, Jovan Nicholson.  Her creativity was both about colour and place and the place that meant more to her than any other was Cumbria.  I found her paintings joyous, fresh and colourful if somewhat 'naive' and simplistic.  I loved the fact that vases that were depicted in some of the paintings were part of the display.  Both she and her husband, who she was married to from 1920 - 1933, were at the forefront of modern painting in Britain during the 1920s.  After the second world war she began to paint landscapes from her parent's house in what was to become her signature style.  She said of her work 'My paintings talk in colour and any of the shapes are there to express colour but not outline.  The flowers are sparks of light, built of and thrown out into the air as rainbows are thrown in an arc.'  He paintings are certainly vibrant and fresh.  She made many trips to the Lake District where she painted atmospheric landscapes of Ullswater, Borrowdale, Skidaw and the Duddon Valley.  Also included in the exhibition are some of her experimental works where she view the scene through a prism.

It was interesting from my point of view to study her composition and to ponder on the locations she had chosen to paint.

Image
Nicholson, W. (1940s) Ullswater, [online image] available from: http://winifrednicholson.com/paintings.html [Accessed 20.9.16]