Sir William Nicholson

(British, 1872-1949)

Swedish Barquentine 27.7 x 33.7 cm. (10 7/8 x 13 1/4 in.)

Footnotes

Provenance
Private Collection, U.K.

Exhibited
London, W.B. Paterson, An Exhibition of works by William Nicholson, November-December 1906, cat.no.7

Literature
Patricia Reed, William Nicholson; a Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, Modern Art Press, London, 2011, p.91, cat.no.93 (listed as untraced)

In 1906 William Nicholson and his family spent the summer at Rustington, just east of Littlehampton, on the south coast of England where the river Arun meanders into the sea. Nicholson was delighted by both the extensive, and sparsely populated landscape of the estuary plain, set between the gentle downs and empty expanses of sandy beach, and the unexpectedly busy little port of Littlehampton. Here there were not just coastal trading vessels but shipping from Russia, Sweden and Norway. Coal and timber were traded in brigs, and brigantines, and schooners - the timber coming from the Baltic and as far north as Archangel in Russia.

Nicholson had not painted shipping before. The popular view of shipping under sail he rejected, and all ten recorded works painted that summer are believed to depict vessels at anchor without their sails. Rigging in particular fascinated him. As a great admirer of Whistler's work, The Thames in Ice (1860: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC) and the Limehouse views and etchings were well known to him.

As can be seen, a barquentine is a three-masted vessel, with square sails on the foremast, and fore-and-aft rigged on the main and mizzen masts. This type of rigging became popular towards the end of the nineteenth century as it could be operated by smaller crews. Figures appear to be standing by a gang plank, though the rising ground of the wharf partially obscures the view. Unlike the other Littlehampton vessels that Nicholson depicted, for example The Brig (Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art), the hull of this unnamed Swedish ship is painted white with blue trim. Shapes of buildings are visible behind the complexities of spars and rigging – possibly the view is taken from Butt's Wharf, in which case we are looking across the river to the town on the west bank.

Nicholson's summer landscapes and shipping scenes featured that winter in his solo exhibition at a new London gallery run by the Scottish dealer W.B.Paterson (who in 1923 was to give Ben and Winifred Nicholson their first joint exhibition).

The very handsome frame supplied by the Chenil Gallery, Kings Road, London, probably dates from 1907 and suggests that the work was included in the exhibition Paintings by Mr Nicholson, Mr Orpen and Mr Pryde (catalogue untraced) held at the Chenil Gallery in June of that year. At the Paterson Gallery Nicholson would have been expected to pay for the framing of his 30 or so works, and frames of this quality would have been too expensive for him, although he did purchase materials from the Chenil Gallery as the label on the verso of the canvas board indicates. Between 1906-8 he was sharing the studio of his friend William Orpen, brother-in-law of the owner of the Chenil Gallery Jack Knewstub, who was probably instrumental in negotiating the 1907 exhibition.

Nicholson placed great importance on the framing of his works, and demanded a high proportion of gilded frame in relation to his canvas. Sometimes the original frames have been cut down as appears to be the case with Coast Scene, National Museum of Wales, another work dating from the summer of 1906.

We are grateful to Patricia Reed for compiling this catalogue entry.