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Notes

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This work with its interlocking rectangular forms and twin circles relates to the reliefs that Nicholson was making at this time. The white circles, red-square and muted rectangular forms generate a shallow architectural space within the composition.

Nicholson was exhibiting with Abstraction-Creation when this work was made and had recently been introduced to Piet Mondrian. This association was contemporary with the emergence of a formal linear precision in the execution of his work. Nicholson's friendship with Mondrian developed when the Dutch artist moved to London at the outbreak of the Second World War. Mondrian contributed to Circle, a survey of constructive art, that Nicholson co-edited with Gabo and J. L. Martin.

The Pier Arts Centre

Stromness

Title

1934 (painting)

Date

1934

Medium

oil on board

Measurements

H 37 x W 45 cm

Accession number

PAC 41

Acquisition method

gift from Margaret Gardiner, 1979

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

1. 'Ben Nicholson 1934 ↑TOP'. 2. 'GARDINR'. 3. exhibition label for Tate (Pier Gallery Collection 20th Sept-29th Oct 1978). 4. exhibition label. 5. exhibition label for Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums (Pier Gallery Collection 1978). 6. exhibition label, The Art Council of Great Britain (British Art and the Modern Movements).

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