Studio: international art (87.1924)

THE PAINTINGS OF BERTRAM
NICHOLLS. BY JANE QUIGLEY.

THE art of Bertram Nicholls strikes a
note by no means common in these
days. It is finely wrought, and tends to-
wards the exquisite in quality. This is
indeed painting, as opposed to picture-
making for exhibitions. Broad in concep-
tion and treatment, though usually exe-
cuted on a small scale, this work is worthy
of the traditions of the masters to whom
the artist owns allegiance. Connoisseurs
cannot fail to be interested in the work of
one who thinks much and executes slowly,
who realises that “ a man’s reach should
exceed his grasp,” and works with patient
deliberation towards his ideal of the
exquisite and the true. 000
The work of this artist is imbued with
romance, but he is a realist in the sense
that he chooses to paint reality. He is all
for selection and elimination, preferring

the part to the whole. A church, or a boat
may be the main subject of his canvas;
with a tranquil, perhaps glowing, sky and
a landscape true in tone and atmosphere
for setting. There is poetry in the building
and the boat, but the stonework and the
wooden hulk have solidity and texture. The
poetry in this work is not due to that senti-
mental vagueness which is too often mis-
taken for poetry, nor to those nebulous
conceptions which belong to another world
than ours. When he introduces figures
they are types rather than individuals :
they stand for something eternal in the
relationship of man to his environment. 0
It is the world we see around us that
Bertram Nicholls depicts, or, rather, some
limited aspect of the world we know—
familiar, every-day subjects for the most
part, but invested with significance and an
indefinable charm. The paintings them-
selves illustrate one’s meaning better than
any written words can do. A characteristic

“DRYING THE SAILS”
BY BERTRAM NICHOLLS

(Tate Gallery, Chantrey Bequest)

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