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coming next
Art & Life Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis & William Staite Murray, 1920-31
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15 February - 11 May 2014 Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge A major international exhibition of work from two of the UK’s most important 20th Century painters, Ben and Winifred Nicholson. ‘Art and Life’ examines their work both individually and in collaboration with friends and fellow artists Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis, and the potter William Staite Murray. This exhibition has a special resonance for Kettle’s Yard whose creator Jim Ede was friends with, and collected work by, these artists. Key works in the exhibition from Kettle’s Yard’s collection, are shown alongside major loans from institutions across the U.K and from Europe. This exciting exhibition also includes a large number of pieces from private collections and many previously unseen works 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. Focusing on the years of Ben and Winifred’s marriage from 1920 - 1931 and the important relationships they had with Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and William Staite Murray, ‘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 twentieth century.
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The exhibition positions the Nicholsons’ works alongside their 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’. The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication with newly commissioned texts, illustrated in full colour. In the book’s principal essay, Jovan Nicholson explores the ways that ideas flowed between the Nicholsons and Christopher Wood when they painted side by side in Cumberland and Cornwall, with particular emphasis on the meeting with Alfred Wallis in St. Ives in 1928. Art Historian, Sebastiano Barassi focuses on the Nicholsons’ visits to Paris, Italy and Switzerland in the early 1920s, and the potter Julian Stair examines the importance of William Staite Murray, one of the most successful artists at that time. All three essays draw on new research based on previously unpublished letters, photographs and other material. PTO For further information and images please contact Susie Biller at Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge, Castle Street, Cambridge CB3 0AQ U.K. tel 01223 748100 • fax 01223 324377 • susie@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk • www.kettlesyard.co.uk
EVENTS The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive programme of events including a Monday Lecture Series: 17 February, 7pm: ‘A Persistent way of life: Ben Nicholson, International Modernism and Rural Tradition’, Dr Chris Stephens, Head of Displays, Tate Britain 3 March, 7 pm: ‘Art and Life’ Jovan Nicholson, Curator of the exhibition 24 March, 7pm: ‘Abstract Matter: William Staite Murray’s stoneware pottery’, Julian Stair, artist and writer 31 March, 7pm: ‘The Allure of the South: Ben and Winifred Nicholson in Switzerland and Italy’, Sebastiano Barassi, Curator, Henry Moore Foundation Tickets, £8, £28 for the series. NOTES FOR EDITORS The exhibition is supported by Arts Council England Touring. The exhibition is a collaboration between Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London and Leeds Art Gallery. The exhibition is at Leeds Art Gallery until 12 January 2014, tours to Kettle’s Yard 15 February – 11 May 2014 and Dulwich Picture Gallery 4 June – 21 September 2014. KETTLE’S YARD Opened in 1957 Kettle’s Yard is a remarkable house and collection with a programme of modern and contemporary art exhibitions, educational activities and music. Kettle’s Yard is part of the University of Cambridge. Please see www.kettlesyard.co.uk and www.kettlesyardonline.co.uk
Coming soon:
Gustav Metzger: Lift Off! 24 May - 31 August 2014 “When I was young I wanted art that would lift off - that would levitate, gyrate, bring together different - perhaps contradictory aspects of my being”. Gustav Metzger This ambitious exhibition will shed new light on Gustav Metzger’s (born 1926) early auto-creative work that engages with science and technology and the processes of creation. Less well know than his autodestructive works, but central to the development of his art practice, this show focuses on the late 1950s and 1960s. During this period, Metzger was experimenting with chemical elements, air, heat and water in scientific laboratories, and delivering lectures and demonstrations. Two of these key events took place in Cambridge, where Metzger had previously studied at art school. The exhibition explores this exciting period in Metzger’s career and re-stages some work that has not been seen since the ‘60s. The exhibition is curated by Elizabeth Fisher in collaboration with Kettle’s Yard.