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Although Ben Nicholson had explored the possibilities of monochrome art in his white reliefs of the early 1930s, he never abandoned color entirely. This composition shows an architectonic approach inspired by Piet Mondrian, whom he had met in Paris in the early 1930s. Color is limited to red and blue, and confined to simple geometric forms. While the overall effect is resolutely nonrepresentational, it nonetheless echoes his earlier still lifes in the way in which the various shapes and colors are ordered on the picture plane.

Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)

Although Ben Nicholson had explored the possibilities of monochrome art in his white reliefs of the early 1930s, he never abandoned color entirely. This composition shows an architectonic approach inspired by Piet Mondrian, whom he had met in Paris in the early 1930s. Color is limited to red and blue, and confined to simple geometric forms. While the overall effect is resolutely nonrepresentational, it nonetheless echoes his earlier still lifes in the way in which the various shapes and colors are ordered on the picture plane.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

Although Nicholson had explored the possibilities of monochrome art in his white reliefs of the early 1930s, he never abandoned color entirely in his painting. In this composition from the late 1930s his approach had become more architectonic under the inspiration of Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). Color remains, but it is limited to the most basic elements, namely the primary colors red and blue, and confined to the simple geometric forms of squares and rectangles. While the overall effect is resolutely nonrepresentational, it nonetheless echoes his earlier still lifes in the way the various shapes and colors are ordered on the picture plane.

Gallery label for Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11)