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1933 (guitar) (1933)

Ben Nicholson

oil on board

Tate, London, Liverpool and St Ives

1933 (guitar) (1933)

© Angela Verren Taunt. All rights reserved, DACS 2023. Photo credit: Tate

Details

Classification:

Painting

Materials:

Oil, Board

Physical Object Description:

Image of a guitar. Inscribed: ‘Ben Nicholson 1933’ on back-board.

Dimensions:

83.2 x 19.7 cm

Accession Number:

N05125

Credit:

Presented by the Contemporary Art Society, 1940

Ownership history:

Purchased by St John Hutchinson (1884-1942) for the Contemporary Art Society, 1934; presented to the Tate Gallery, 1940

Subject:

Still Life

By using an oddly shaped piece of wooden board rather than  canvas, Ben Nicholson created a work that lies somewhere between  sculpture and painting. The effect is heightened by the  texture of the surface, which was prepared with a layer of special  plaster that the artist cut into while it was still wet. Though now framed, Nicholson preferred to leave the work unprotected. Photographs show that instead of hanging it on a wall like a conventional painting, he kept his 'scratched surrealist guitar' propped on a mantelpiece in his studio. Nicholson produced three other paintings of guitars which were executed in 1933; two were owned by H. E. ' Jim' Ede (1895-1990) of Kettle's Yard who donated his home and contents to the University of Cambridge in 1966 and the other at Leeds.

All rights reserved. Any further use will need to be cleared with the rights holder. Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited.

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