Ben Nicholson

Ben Nicholson established an international reputation in the late 1930s with his abstract reliefs, carved out of wood and painted a uniform white. In 1939 he and his wife, Barbara Hepworth moved to St Ives in Cornwall and soon became the leading figures in the artists' colony there. From 1958 to 1971 Nicholson lived in Switzerland, where he produced some of his finest drawings and reliefs.

Nicholson was born in Buckinghamshire in 1894, the son of the artists William Nicholson and Mabel Pryde, and died in London in 1982. The main influences in the formation of his own artistic language were Picasso, Braque, Miro and Mondrian.

Nicholson's work has been shown throughout the world. Beside three retrospectives at the Tate, there have been major exhibitions in the USA, Japan and Switzerland. His works are held in public collections worldwide.