Painting 1937
- Artist: Ben Nicholson (Artists)
- Date: 1937
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is “Painting 1937” by Ben Nicholson, created in 1937. At the time Nicholson was in the thick of an avant‑garde circle in London that brought together future wife Barbara Hepworth and, for a spell, Piet Mondrian. Mondrian’s push toward pure abstraction clearly seeped into Nicholson’s work here.
The canvas is a riot of flat colour blocks, all arranged around a central, punchy red square. Those blocks don’t just sit there – their varying intensities create a subtle visual play, making the composition feel layered and shifting in depth. It’s a kind of spatial illusion that keeps you looking over and over.
One detail you’ll notice is the yellow square, which today looks a bit muted. Back when it was painted, Nicholson used a bright, acidic yellow that would have punched through the other colours. Time has softened it, but its original vibrancy hints at the bold palette he was experimenting with.
Overall, this oil on canvas is a snapshot of Nicholson’s early experimentation with geometric abstraction, a dialogue between colour, shape, and space that was very much in line with the London avant‑garde he was part of.
See it in person
Painting 1937 hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
