Studio: international art (53.1911)

William Nicholson

inclined to tolerate. His art is neither in accord- fancy of the public is a point which does not occur
ance with slavish precedent nor has it any air of to him as at all worth considering; he is working
making purposely a protest against things of which as his taste and experience incline him to work and
he disapproves. as his reason dictates, and that is, in his view, all

What it has most of all is an atmosphere of that ought to be expected of him.
scholarly sincerity, the atmosphere that comes from Certainly, judging by results, he is amply justified
sane and intelligent study of tradition by a man in the position he has taken up. His pictures are
who is quite prepared to adopt from his pre- extraordinarily convincing in their character and
decessors all that is likely to help him in working quality, and they have a clear significance which
out logically the ideas that he has in his mind. It makes them supremely interesting to all students
is thoroughly modern in the sense that it belongs of modern art developments. This significance
to the period in which it has been produced and comes partly from the originality of his outlook but
does not pretend to take no interest in the great partly as well from the certainty with which he
legacy of art which we moderns have inherited from attacks and overcomes serious problems of practice,
the past. It has no primitive affectations, no In his outlook he is essentially a realist who sees
wilfully artificial reversions to a condition of sham things as they are and does not seek to soften
aesthetic innocence, and no professions of being away by any false or sentimental idealisation the facts
anything else but the expression of the feelings of that seem to be worth artistic treatment; but his
an artist who is inspired by the sentiment of his realism is so guided by his aesthetic understanding
surroundings. But while it bears the stamp of and his infallible sense of style that the actuality
learning and of studious investigation, and while it of his pictures is never brutal and assuredly never
is controlled by disciplined taste, it shows quite commonplace. Even in the slightest of his motives
plainly what instinctive preferences and what there is never a trace of superficiality and never a
temperamental inclinations govern his production hint that it has not commended itself to him by the
in all its phases. Learning has not made him a possession of some important pictorial possibilities,
pedant and study has not in
any way decreased his recep-
tivity or his responsiveness to
the right kind of impressions.

With this soundness of
mental qualification Mr.
Nicholson has also the
courage to choose the techni-
cal methods which are agree-
able to him personally, rather
than to conform to any of
the systems which happen to
be in vogue. He paints in a
way that is peculiar to him-
self, and uses his materials
in the manner that seems to
fit best with the atmosphere
and character of his work;
and having consciously or
unconsciously adopted this
manner because he finds it
expressive, he shows no dis-
position to dally with other
processes of production. It
is sufficient for him to do
what he wants to do in the
way that he thinks best.
Whether that way will please

. . THE LANDLORD BY WILLIAM NICHOLSON

Other artists or will suit the (Bv permission of The Stafford Gallery)

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