Oil paint and graphite on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on loan
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ben-nicholson-om-1702" aria-label="More by Ben Nicholson OM" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Ben Nicholson OM</a>
194345 St Ives Cornwall
Purchased 1945
abstraction
architecture
beach
boat, fishing
chimney
colour
Cornwall
cubist space
cup / mug
curtain
emotions, concepts and ideas
England
England, South West
England, Southern
features
flag, Union Flag
formal qualities
from recognisable sources
furnishings
harbour
hill
history
irregular forms
kitchen
landscape
landscape
lighthouse
man-made
military: World War II
non-representational
objects
pier
places
public and municipal
religious and ceremonial
seascapes and coasts
society
St Ives
townscape, distant
townscapes / man-made features
transport: water
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945
window
<p>Nicholson was at the centre of the London-based British avant-garde. Shortly before the war he moved to Cornwall with his wife Barbara Hepworth and their children. To earn a living he abandoned his white reliefs of the 1930s and returned to painting landscapes, which his dealers Alex Reid &amp; Lefevre considered easier to sell. Landscapes, particularly those of British scenes, became popular during the war. This view of the harbour at St Ives is one of a series begun in 1939. They enabled Nicholson to develop ideas of the previous decade, particularly his experimentation with the positioning of objects in space. He added the Union Jack in the foreground as a gesture to celebrate V.E. Day and the end of the war.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint graphite canvas
15 June 2005 – 4 September 2005
2005-09-04
15 June 2005 – 4 September 2005
2005-09-04
2005-06-15
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-06-15
A Picture of Britain
Exhibition
7 July 2008 – 4 January 2009
2009-01-04
7 July 2008 – 21 September 2008
2008-09-21
2008-07-07
Abbot Hall Art Gallery (Kendal, UK)
http://www.abbothall.org.uk
11 October 2008 – 4 January 2009
2009-01-04
2008-10-11
De La Warr Pavilion (Bexhill on Sea, UK)
http://www.dlwp.com/
2008-07-07
Ben Nicholson
Loan-out
6 October 2010 – 25 April 2011
2011-04-25
6 October 2010 – 30 January 2011
2011-01-30
2010-10-06
Millennium Gallery (Sheffield, UK)
http://www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk
19 February 2011 – 25 April 2011
2011-04-25
2011-02-19
Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery (Norwich, UK)
http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk
9 May 2011 – 6 November 2011
2011-11-06
2011-05-09
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-10-06
GBAD: Restless Times: Modern British Art 1914 - 1945
Loan-out
13 May 2011 – 6 November 2011
2011-11-06
13 May 2011 – 6 November 2011
2011-11-06
2011-05-13
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2011-05-13
Restless Times
Collection based display
26 March 2015 – 27 May 2020
2020-05-27
26 March 2015 – 21 June 2015
2015-06-21
2015-03-26
Museo Nacional de Arte (Mexico City, Mexico)
18 July 2015 – 18 October 2015
2015-10-18
2015-07-18
Pinacoteca do Estado (São Paulo, Brazil)
2015-03-26
British Landscape
Tate partnerships & programmes
14 October 2017 – 31 January 2021
2021-01-31
14 October 2017 – 31 January 2021
2021-01-31
2017-10-14
Tate St Ives (St Ives, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/stives/
2017-10-14
Modern Art and St Ives
Collection based display
11 May 2024 – 20 October 2024
2024-10-20
11 May 2024 – 20 October 2024
2024-10-20
2024-05-11
Pallant House Gallery (Chichester, UK)
2024-05-11
Beyond the Real: Modern British Still Life
Loan-out
1943-45 (St Ives, Cornwall)
support: 406 × 502 mm
frame: 440 × 535 × 65 mm
Purchased 1945
<p>Nicholson was at the centre of the London-based British <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/avant-garde" title="Glossary definition for 'Avant-garde'"><span>avant-garde</span></a>. Shortly before the war he moved to Cornwall with his wife Barbara Hepworth and their children. To earn a living he abandoned his white <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/relief" title="Glossary definition for 'Relief'"><span>reliefs</span></a> of the 1930s and returned to <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscapes</span></a>, which his dealers Alex Reid &amp; Lefevre considered easier to sell. Landscapes, particularly those of British scenes, became popular during the war. This view of the harbour at St Ives is one of a series begun in 1939. They enabled Nicholson to develop ideas of the previous decade, particularly his experimentation with the positioning of objects in space. He added the Union Jack in the foreground as a gesture to celebrate V.E. Day and the end of the war.</p>
Display caption
2004-09-09T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N05625</b> ST IVES, CORNWALL 1943–5</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inscr. ‘St Ives Ben Nicholson 1943–45’ on reverse.
<br/>Canvas board, 16×19 3/4 (40·5×50·5).
<br/>Purchased from the artist through the Lefevre Gallery (Knapping Fund) 1945.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> Lefevre Gallery, October 1945 (61).
<br/><i>Repr:</i> <i>Horizon</i>, XII, 1945, between pp.184 and 185; Read, I, 1948, pl.132.</p>
<p>A view of the harbour at St Ives, one of a series of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>paintings</span></a> begun when the artist moved there at the outbreak of the 1939–45 War; cf. especially ‘St Ives 1943’ in the collection of A. J. McN. Reid (repr. Read, 1, 1948, pl.160). These were Nicholson's first <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscapes</span></a> since 1930 and are typical of his development away from the austere and monumental style of such works as ‘painting 1937’, <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/nicholson-june-1937-painting-t00050" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T00050</span></a>. The <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/still-life" title="Glossary definition for 'Still life'"><span>still life</span></a> in the foreground was reworked in 1945.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, II
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-08T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction architecture beach boat, fishing chimney colour Cornwall cubist space cup / mug curtain emotions, concepts and ideas England England, Southern England, South West features flag, Union Flag formal qualities from recognisable sources furnishings harbour hill history irregular forms kitchen landscape landscape lighthouse man-made military: World War II non-representational objects pier places public and municipal religious and ceremonial seascapes and coasts society St Ives townscape, distant townscapes / man-made features transport: water UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945 window