Prints & Multiples

William Nicholson: Printmaker & Storyteller

22 September 2026

Kirstie Davidson

Best known for his depictions of lustrous vases and Miss Simpson’s red boots, William Nicholson also left behind a quieter yet equally significant legacy: that of draughtsman, designer and storyteller.

Printmaking was one of Nicholson’s earliest forms of experimentation and expression, and the woodcut in particular allowed him to develop a visual language that was unmistakably his own. With bold silhouettes, areas of rich black and carefully placed flashes of colour, Nicholson transformed seemingly simple subjects into some of the most distinctive British prints of the late nineteenth century.

Examples of Nicholson’s work coming to auction offer an opportunity to look more closely at this important part of his career, from his early experiments in graphic design to the celebrated portfolios An Alphabet, An Almanac of Sports and London Types.

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From the Beggarstaffs to Printmaking

Nicholson 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, with stark silhouettes and minimalist compositions, these same idiosyncrasies meant that advertisers often found them too avant-garde for widespread commercial appeal.

Nicholson nevertheless recognised 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, 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.

What Is a Woodcut?

Woodcut is a relief-printing process in which areas of a block of wood are carved away, leaving the intended image raised. Ink is applied to this remaining surface before the image is transferred onto paper.

The technique has a history spanning continents, centuries and cultures. From early woodblock printing in Asia to its development in Europe, generations of artists have turned to the medium, learning from the techniques of the past and adapting them for their own purposes.

Albrecht Dürer produced one of his most famous prints, The Rhinoceros (1515), as a woodcut, while centuries later Edvard Munch used colour woodcuts to very different effect in works including Two Human Beings. The Lonely Ones.

William Nicholson's Woodcut Style

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.

He notably printed from the coarse-grained side of the woodblock, lending his prints a rich, textured quality. His work also reflected aspects of the Art Nouveau movement, particularly in the bold black outlines of his figures and restrained use of colour.

The result was remarkably economical. Nicholson could suggest a figure, occupation or personality with surprisingly little information, using silhouette, outline and a few carefully selected areas of colour.

William Nicholson's London Types

Published in 1898, 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 appeal of the series lies largely in its simplicity: stark black imagery interrupted by splashes of colour. A flash of yellow knee-high sock appears in Bluecoat Boy, Newgate Street; elsewhere, the sky-blue cuff of Drum Major, Wimbledon Common provides the colour accent. Nicholson turned the people encountered on London's streets into a striking visual record of the city.

How Were London Types Printed?

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 card. The support was then signed and dated by the artist before the prints were issued loose in a portfolio.

Nicholson's experiments with the woodcut were not limited to London Types. An Alphabet and An Almanac of Sports were also published around this extraordinarily productive period of his career.

From Printmaking to Painting

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 his carefully considered compositions and power of restraint.

The luminous still lifes and portraits for which Nicholson is now perhaps best known may appear very different from the bold silhouettes of London Types, but they belong to the same artist: one acutely aware of composition, surface and just how much can be achieved by an absence of extraneous detail.

Department

Prints & Multiples

Specialist

Kirstie Davidson

Head of Prints & Multiples | London