Ben Nicholson (English, 1894-1982)

Ben Nicholson was a pioneer of abstract painting in Britain and a key figure in the European avant-garde, collaborating with Picasso, Braque, Arp, Mondrian and others. Despite his thrive for innovation, he retained a strong sense of tradition and had a life-long devotion to landscape and still-life, transforming traditional composition in his austere geometric language. Nicholson's influence as a propagator of avant-garde ideas in Britain cannot be overstated, among other achievements, he was central to the development of a modernist colony at St Ives. In 1951, he was commissioned to paint a mural for the Time-Life Building at the Festival of Britain; in 1964, he had a retrospective show at the Venice Biennale, and in 1955 and 1969, he had further retrospective exhibitions at the Tate.