Ben Nicholson

BEN NICHOLSON
Prints
BEN NICHOLSON STARTED MAKING PRINTS AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR. HE USED PRE-PREPARED COPPER PLATES WHICH HE WOULD SCRAPE INTO USING A NEEDLE, AND HIS CHOICE OF SUBJECT OFTEN ECHOED THOSE WHICH APPEAR IN HIS DRAWINGS. LIKE THE SHARP, SINGULAR, CONTINUOUS LINES IN HIS DRAWINGS, NICHOLSON’S ETCHINGS ARE DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR COMPACT GRAPHIC ENERGY. HIS ETCHINGS ARE CLOSELY RELATED TO HIS DRAWINGS AND CARVED RELIEFS. OVERFLOWING WITH FLUENCY AND WIT, THESE PRINTS REPRESENT THE BEST OF HIS OUTPUT IN HIS LATER DECADES.
Works
The bite of the steel point into the metal is a terrific experience when all goes right and the necessity I am finding to reduce the idea to a series of lines is interesting.

BN to Maurice de Sausmarez, 8 Feb. 1967
I think I am not an “etcher” as I understand the medium at all - really to be this (an etcher) one should know and have the whole paraphernalia - prepare and print the plates oneself?... I suppose mine are really drawings on prepared copper (and I like very much the clear line and resistancy of the material and the smooth run of the implement.

A letter dated 8 Oct. 1968
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