BERNARD  JACOBSON  GRAPHICS    

BEN  NICHOLSON:  LYRIC  AND  LINE  LATE  ETCHINGS    05  Sep  –  12  Oct  2013  

Front page: Ben Nicholson crystal 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 32 x 37.5 cms (12 5/8 x 14 3/4 ins) BN14320 £4,500 (incl. VAT, excl. ARR)  

‘Ben  Nicholson:  Lyric  and  Line’    Late  Etchings      Bernard  Jacobson  Graphics  is  pleased  to  announce  an  exhibiIon  of  limited  ediIon  prints  by  the  print-­‐maker  and  major  BriIsh  arIst  Ben  Nicholson.        Following  an  acclaimed  exhibiIon  of  Nicholson’s  original  works  at  the  gallery  last  year,  Bernard  Jacobson  Graphics  conInues  with  a  comprehensive  show  of  Ben  Nicholson’s  late  etchings.        Nicholson’s  printmaking  career  started  in  the  1920’s  with  trials  on  lino-­‐  and  woodcuts.  AXer  moving  to  St.  Ives  he  began  work  on  a  series  of  seven  drypoints.  It  was  only  when  Nicholson  was  in  his  late  sixIes  that  he  started  to  work  extensively  with  etchings,  which  were  printed  in  ediIon  size.        However,  the  influence  of  printmaking  techniques  always  played  a  crucial  role  in  his  work.  The  processes  involved  in  relief  prinIng,  as  used  in  woodcuts  and  linocuts,  may  have  led  him  to  work  with  relief  carving  in  his  original  works.  Similarly  the  etchings  of  the  1960’s  may  have  influenced  his  later  drawings,  whereby  we  see  a  clarity  of  line  and  a  reducIon  of  tone.  Nicholson  stated:  “The  bite  of  the  steel  point  into  the  metal  is  a  terrific  experience  when  all  goes  right  &  the  necessity  I  am  finding  to  reduce  the  idea  to  a  series  of  lines  is  interesIng.”        Nicholson  only  started  to  work  with  etching  at  the  age  of  sixty-­‐nine.  He  moved  to  a  remote  lakeside  house  in  Switzerland  with  his  third  wife,  where  he  met  the  young  arIst  Francois  Lafranca,  who  offered  to  print  Nicholson’s  etchings.  This  collaboraIon  proved  successful  for  the  next  three  years.  The  four  porbolios  printed  by  Lafranca  in  these  three  years  demonstrate  some  of  the  most  important  subject  macer  of  Nicholson’s  arIsIc  life.  While  the  first  three  porbolios  show  a  compendium  of  architectural  forms  and  Mediterranean  places  that  Nicholson  had  visited  with  his  wife,  whose  photographs  were  certainly  a  major  inspiraIon,  the  last  porbolio  comprises  the  favourite  themes  of  his  graphic  work:  Crystalline  forms,  the  interplay  of  line,  objects  in  his  studio  and  memories  of  Mediterranean  architecture.  This  porbolio  is  a  central  focus  of  the  exhibiIon.        Nicholson  kept  arIst’s  proofs  from  all  sets  of  prints,  which  he  liked  to  hand-­‐colour;  oXen  only  small  parts  of  the  architectural  forms  are  highlighted  with  an  earthly  red.  Two  of  these  rare  hand-­‐coloured  prints  feature  in  the  exhibiIon.        As  Nicholson  said  in  1948,  he  was  seeking  ‘the  musical  and  architectural’.  Furthermore,  Nicholson  stated,  ‘whether  things  are  representaIonal  or  non-­‐representaIonal,  slightly  more  or  less  abstract,  is  for  me  beside  the  point.”        ‘Ben  Nicholson:  Lyric  and  Line’  exhibits  a  comprehensive  overview  of  Nicholson’s  etching  output.    

Ben Nicholson Movement 1966 Etching, Edition of 50 33 x 32 cms (13 x 12 9/16 ins) BNE015 £3,800 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson Olympic fragment No.1 1965 Etching, Edition of 50 32 x 37.5 cms (12 5/8 x 14 3/4 ins) BN14305 £4,300 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson Verona (the Duomo) 1966 Etching, Trial Proof 38 x 27.5 cms (15 x 10 7/8 ins) BNE019 £ 2,700 (incl.VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson Torcello I 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 46 x 56 cms (18 1/8 x 22 ins) BN14322 £ 4,500 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson Lucca (small version) 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 32 x 37.5 cms (12 5/8 x 14 3/4 ins) BN14319 £4,300 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson Paros tree 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 38 x 56 cms (15 x 22 ins) BN14307 £ 4,500 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)  

Ben Nicholson Turkish sundial & tree 1967 Etching. Edition of 50 43.5 x 38 cms (17.12 x 14.96 in.) BNE003 £3,800 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson tree, column & moon 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 56 x 50 cms (22 x 19 11/16 ins) BN14304 £4,300 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson flowing forms 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 38 x 44 cms (15 x 17 1/3 ins) BN14321 £ 4,200 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson still life with curves 1966 Etching, Edition of 50 42.9 x 37.8 cms (16 7/8 x 14 7/8 ins) BNE013 £4,200 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson crystal 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 32 x 37.5 cms (12.6 x 14.76 in.) BN14320 £ 4,500 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson complicated forms 1967 Etching and drypoint, Edition of 50 36.5 x 22 cms (14.37 x 8.66 ins) BN14290 £3,800 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson two goblets & a mug 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 38 x 47.5 cms (15 x 18 3/4 ins) BN14306 £4,500 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson single form 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 42.6 x 52.3 cms (16 3/4 x 20 9/16 ins) BN14308 £4,500 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson half mug, half jug 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 38 x 32 cms (15 x 12 5/8 ins) BN14325 £4,500 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson two & a half goblets 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 38 x 32 cms (15 x 12 5/8 ins) BN14316 £4,200 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson glasstopped bottle 1967/8 Etching, Edition of 50 50 x 38 cms (19 11/16 x 15 ins) BN14324 £4,200 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson curled Turkish form 1966 Etching, Edition of 50 38 x 27.5 cms (15 x 10 3/4 ins) BN14295 £3,750 (incl.VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson Turkish sundial between two Turkish forms II 1967 Etching, not numbered, not signed 48 x 43.1 cms (18 3/4 x 17 in.) BN14288 £ 2,950 (incl.VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson Turkish sundial between two Turkish forms 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 37.7 x 52 cms (15 x 20 1/2 ins) BN14317 £ 4,200 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson long horizontal Patmos 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 34 x 48 cms (13 3/8 x 18 7/8 ins) BN14287 £4,450 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson fragment of Tuscan cathedral 1965 Etching, Edition of 50 32 x 27.5 cms (12 5/8 x 10 13/16 ins) BN14327 £ 4,200 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson storm over Paros 1967 Etching, Edition of 50 38 x 43 cms (15 x 16 15/16 ins) BNE020 £ 4,800 (incl.VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson fragment of Tuscan cathedral Etching with hand-colouring 1966 Edition of 50 32.3 x 27.5 cms (12 3/4 x 10 7/8 ins) BN14286 £ 5,500 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson Aquileia 1966 Etching with hand-colouring, Edition of 50 34.5 x 30 cms (13 9/16 x 11 13/16 ins) BN14289 £17,000 (incl.VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

Ben Nicholson long horizontal Patmos 1967 Etching with hand-colouring 34 x 48 cms ( 13.38 x 18.89 in.) BN13957 £ 7,500 (incl. VAT and frame, excl. ARR)

For more information please contact: Constance Aehlig constance@jacobsongallery.com 020 77 34 34 31