A Printmaker and Storyteller
Best known for his depictions of lustrous vases and Miss Simpson’s red boots, Sir William Nicholson also left behind a quieter yet equally significant legacy: that of draughtsman, designer and storyteller. This point was made beautifully at Pallant House’s recent exhibition William Nicholson which traced the artist’s career across still-life, portraiture, landscape and print.
William Nicholson remains one of the most distinctive British artists of the twentieth century and is renowned for his ability to depict the most fleeting of moments: reflected light and rich shadow giving life to a glazed earthenware vase or a lustre bowl. Despite being best known for his paintings, printmaking was one of the artist’s earliest forms of experimentation and expression.
He began in collaboration with his brother-in-law, James Pryde, designing posters for theatres and commercial products under the pseudonym J. & W. Beggarstaff. Although critically admired for their innovative approach – stark silhouettes and minimalist compositions - these same idiosyncrasies meant that advertisers often found them too avant-garde for widespread commercial appeal.
Nicholson saw the possibilities offered by a society in which popular imagery was increasingly sought-after and began his printmaking journey afresh with the help of publisher William Heinemann. Working primarily in woodcut - a process which requires carving away areas of wood to leave the intended image raised in relief to be inked and then printed - Nicholson developed a visual language which was both bold and engaging. There followed a sequence of portfolios including An Alphabet (1897-98), An Almanac of Sports (1898) and London Types (1898) which met with great commercial success.
London Types is a series of thirteen prints depicting familiar figures from the capital at the turn of the century. From the scarlet-plumed Guardsman of Horse Guards Parade, to the humble Sandwich Man of Trafalgar Square, Nicholson captured not only individual characters, but the spirit of an era.
The designs were initially produced in a deluxe edition of approximately 40 impressions printed from the original woodblocks. These were hand-coloured, trimmed to the image and laid onto board which was then signed and dated by the artist and issued loose in a portfolio. Their appeal lay largely in their simplicity: stark black imagery interrupted by splashes of colour – a flash of yellow knee-high sock here (Bluecoat Boy, Newgate Street), a sky-blue cuff there (Drum Major, Wimbledon Common). Seeing potential in the growing popular interest in all things London, Nicholson created woodcuts which later became a symbol of their time.
The legacy of the woodcut itself is one that bridges continents, centuries and cultures. From the first woodcuts produced in Japan during the eighth century, to Europe in the 1400s and beyond, artists have repeatedly turned to the medium as a means of expression, learning from the techniques of the past, and adapting them for the future.
From the impossibly intricate works of Albrecht Dürer who produced one of his most famous prints The Rhinoceros (1515) as a woodcut in the early 1500s, to the emotionally charged colour woodcuts of Edvard Munch, including his renowned Two Human Beings. The Lonely Ones (circa 1899-1917), the medium has continually evolved, allowing a freedom of form and expression contradictory to its solid nature.
Nicholson’s approach drew on the flattened decorative qualities of Japanese woodcuts, as well as the dissemination of lithographic poster design through Europe by artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Nicholson notably printed from the coarse-grained side of the woodblock, lending a rich, textured quality to the works, and took influence from the Art Nouveau movement in the bold, black outlines of his figures and restrained colour palette.
Although painting would ultimately become Nicholson’s principal means of earning a living, printmaking and design remained at the heart of his practice. Even in his later painted works, the discipline of the woodcut remains evident in the carefully considered compositions and the power of restraint.
Illustrated: Photograph of William Nicholson by Malcolm Arbuthnot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
