Ben Nicholson

Goblet and Pale Mauve

Artist's Resale Right

Live auction begins on:

June 7, 01:00 PM GMT

Estimate

6,000 - 8,000 GBP

Bid

4,200 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from the Collection of Angela Verren Taunt

Ben Nicholson

1894 - 1982

Goblet and Pale Mauve

signed Nicholson, titled, dated May 78 and inscribed (on the reverse of the sheet); also titled (on the front of the backboard) (partially obscured); further signed Nicholson, titled (twice), and dated 1979 (on the reverse of the backboard); further inscribed lent to angela / + to become her property when I pop off (on the stretcher)

ink, felt tip pen, ink wash and oil wash on paper, laid on the Artist's backboard

unframed (sheet): 20 by 9.5cm.; 8 by 3¾in.

unframed (board): 30.5 by 18cm.; 12 by 7in.

framed: 31.5 by 18.5cm.; 12½ by 7¼in.

Executed between May 1978 - 1979.

We are grateful to Rachel Smith for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

A catalogue raisonné of Ben Nicholson’s paintings and reliefs is currently being prepared, and the authors encourage owners to be in touch. Please write to Rachel Smith, c/o Sotheby’s Modern & Postwar British Art, Sotheby’s, 34-35 New Bond Street, London, W1A 2AA or email info@bncr.org.uk.

Gifted by Ben Nicholson to Angela Verren Taunt

Ben Nicholson met Angela Verren Taunt at a Christmas party in Cambridge on 29 December 1971. Angela was a talented painter herself and had been a great admirer of Nicholson’s work. Ben invited Angela to visit his studio soon after they met, and it was clear there was an immediate connection. She shortly became his studio assistant, and the close friendship which developed between the two was of fundamental importance to the last ten years of Nicholson’s life. They also worked as collaborators on occasion. The support and creative exchange Ben received from Angela was an energizing element, which along with a return to the UK, helped him recapture a creative energy and zest for life and encouraged his artistic output during this final decade.