Leeds Art Gallery celebrates ‘Art and Life’

Ben Nicholson, Cornish Port, 1930. Kettles Yard, University of Cambridge

‘Art and Life’ examines the work of  Ben and Winifred Nicholson both individually and in collaboration with friends and fellow artists Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis, and the potter William Staite Murray.  The exhibition has been curated in collaboration with art historian and curator Jovan Nicholson, Winifred and Ben’s grandson, giving unique access and insight into the archive, history and work of the artists and will show key pieces from public and private collections in the UK as well as loans from Europe.

Focusing on the years of Ben and Winifred’s marriage from 1920 – 1931, the important relationships they had with Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and William Staite Murray and ‘Art and Life’ will look at how their work shaped and informed the story of 20th century modern art in this country and explores the key contribution they made to modernism and the visual culture of the mid-twentieth century.  The exhibition positions the Nicholsons’ work alongside their artistic contemporaries as well as in the context of the political and cultural history of the twentieth century, supporting their significant position in the history of British art.

Art and Life examines the artistic partnership of Ben Nicholson and Winifred Nicholson in the 1920s. Inspired by each other, the Nicholsons experimented furiously and often painted the same subject, one as a colourist the other more interested in form. Winifred wrote of her time with Ben, ‘All artists are unique and can only unite as complementaries not as similarities’.

A programme of talks and events will accompany the exhibition including curator Jovan Nicholson speaking on Weds 27th November 6pm-7pm.  Regular Thursday lunchtime talks on different aspects of the exhibition and in collaboration with Leeds Art Fund include writer and curator Anne Goodchild introducing her new book ‘Dear Winifred… Christopher Wood: Letters to Winifred and Ben Nicholson, 1926-1930’ on 20 November.

A programme of activities in Artspace for families will accompany the exhibition.