April 1957 (Celestial Blue)
Ben Nicholson
(English, 1894–1982)
1957
Medium/TechniqueOil on Masonite
Dimensions108 x 121.9 cm (42 1/2 x 48 in.)
Credit LineTompkins Collection—Arthur Gordon Tompkins Fund
Accession number60.961
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
Nicholson drew early inspiration from cubist still life paintings by Braque and Picasso, but his own works—especially those from the 1950s—go further by embracing almost complete abstraction. His compositions feature deconstructed, silhouetted objects that are largely architectural, that seem to overlap and frame each other in a system of transparent layers. This painting dates to the decade of Nicholson’s greatest success, when the artist was recognized with several international awards and a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Tate Gallery in London.
InscriptionsVerso: Ben Nicholson / April 1957Provenance1959, sold by the artist to Gimpel Fils, London; 1960, sold by Gimpel to Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zürich [see note 1]; 1960, sold by Galerie Lienhard to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 21, 1960)NOTES:
[1] Information about these transactions was provided in a letter from Charles Gimpel of Gimpel Fils to the MFA (January 22, 1963).
Copyright© 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London.
Pierre Andrieu
Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
William Etty
Master of the Schretlen Circumcision
Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Sassoferrato (Giovanni Battista Salvi)