Title

1946 (still life - Alice through the looking glass)

1946

Artist

Ben Nicholson

England

10 Apr 1894 – 06 Feb 1982

Details

Other Titles

Still life (Alice through the looking glass)
Still Life no. 6

Date

1946

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil and pencil on canvas

Dimensions

68.6 x 76.2 cm stretcher; 91.1 x 99.6 x 6.5 cm frame

Signature & date

Not signed. Dated verso, "...1946".

Credit

Purchased 1949

Location

South Building, ground level, 20th-century galleries

Accession number

8317

Copyright

© Estate of Ben Nicholson/DACS. Copyright Agency
Reproduction requests

Artist information

Ben Nicholson
Works in the collection

5

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About

The first thing the viewer notices about this painting is its graphic quality. With its dependence on pencil marks and pallid colours, it hardly seems painted at all. The artist organised his surface into clearly defined, overlapping shapes with little regard to depth or dimensional interplay. The illusionism which was once the mainstay of the oil-on-canvas technique has given way to its opposite, a kind of insubstantiality. Discoveries made by Picasso and Braque before 1914 inform this belated British example of cubism . Ben Nicholson painted his first abstract in 1924 and carved his first purist relief a decade later, though representational motifs occur throughout his career. His father was the Edwardian artist and illustrator, Sir William Nicholson, some of whose pictorial discretion he inherited. Painted near the famed enclave of artists at St Ives, Cornwall, this composition is as devoid of painterly excess and vulgar display as it is full of nuance.

AGNSW Handbook, 1999.
Exhibition history
Shown in 9 exhibitions
- Modern British Paintings, British Institute, Athens, Athens, Oct 1947–Nov 1947
- Eleven British Artists, Australia 1949, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1949–1949
  
  Eleven British Artists, Australia 1949, National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 1949–1949
  
  Eleven British Artists, Australia 1949, National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], Melbourne, 1949–1949
  
  Eleven British Artists, Australia 1949, Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, 1949–1949
  
  Eleven British Artists, Australia 1949, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Launceston, 1949–1949
  
  Eleven British Artists, Australia 1949, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 1949–1949
  
  Eleven British Artists, Australia 1949, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 23 Jul 1949–21 Aug 1949
- Purchases and Acquisitions for 1949, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Dec 1949–17 Feb 1950
- 18 British paintings from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, Jun 1965–Jul 1965
- Favourites: Margaret Olley and Jeffrey Smart (2002), S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 12 Jan 2002–24 Feb 2002
- Modern Britain 1900-1960, NGV: International, Melbourne, 15 Nov 2007–24 Feb 2008
- Matisse and the moderns, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Apr 2015–25 Oct 2015
- 20th-Century galleries, ground level (rehang), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023
- (Ben Nicholson), Alex Reid & Lefevre, Ltd., London, 1946?–1946?
Bibliography
Referenced in 13 publications
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Sydney, 1972, 56 (colour illus.).
- Emmanuel Bénézit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays par un groupe d'écrivans spécialistes français et étrangers, Paris, 1953, 464 (illus.).
- René Free, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'European', pg. 36-56, Sydney, 1988, 56.
- Renée Free, Art Gallery of New South Wales catalogue of British paintings, Sydney, 1987, 138 (illus.).
- Renée Free, AGNSW Collections, 'The Western Heritage, Renaissance to Twentieth Century', pg. 108-172, Sydney, 1994, 164 (colour illus.).
- Ted Gott, Laurie Benson and Sophie Matthiesson, Modern Britain 1900-1960, Melbourne, 2007, 206 (colour illus.).
- Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Western Collection: Paintings and Sculpture', pg. 17-77, Sydney, 1999, 63 (colour illus.).
- Anne Kirker and Peter Tomory, British painting 1800–1990 in Australian and New Zealand public collections, Sydney, 1997, 139. cat.no. 1596
- Ben Nicholson, Ben Nicholson, London, 1955, (illus.). Vol. 1, plate no. 173
- Margaret Olley and Jeffrey Smart, Favourites: Margaret Olley and Jeffrey Smart selections, Sydney, 2002. No catalogue numbers; titled 'Still life'; Jeffrey Smart selection.
- The British Council, Modern British Paintings, London, 1947. cat.no. 37
- The British Council (Organiser), Eleven British artists, London, 1949, (illus.). cat.no. 26, listed as 'Still Life (No. 6)'
- The Lefevre Gallery, (Ben Nicholson), London, 1946. cat.no. 70, listed as 'Still Life (6)'
Provenance

Alex Reid & Lefevre, Ltd., 1946, London/England

The British Council, 1949, London/England, Purchased by the AGNSW from the British Council 1949. Purchased from the exhibition 'Eleven British Artists' Australian State Galleries 1949.