tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post7687594608414710871..comments2024-03-26T22:36:52.981+00:00Comments on Modern Printmakers: William Nicholson: A Square Book of InfluencesHaji babahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10619515066447546979noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post-880779624136471532017-12-01T18:17:35.695+00:002017-12-01T18:17:35.695+00:00Hi there i believe i have 2 printing blocks by wil...Hi there i believe i have 2 printing blocks by william Nicholson could someone help me with some more info please? Jenniacton@hotmail Birdyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09555840480648870904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post-9023590264150648002012-05-22T04:39:16.136+01:002012-05-22T04:39:16.136+01:00I should also say the portrait of Josef Hoffman (i...I should also say the portrait of Josef Hoffman (in the spotted blue necktie) from 1903 makes a conscious link between London and the Vienna Secession. Orlik was by that time capable of sophisticated colour woodcuts and etchings but opted for a simplified style for almost all the woodcut portraits.Haji babahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10619515066447546979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post-45752535576468255432012-05-22T04:27:39.665+01:002012-05-22T04:27:39.665+01:00The images being available as lithographs helped t...The images being available as lithographs helped to make them better known abroad. But London had also become a focus of attention after the founding of the Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1896. Also all the new magazines like Pan, The Studio, Ver Sacrum and the Yellow Book helped to build the sense of a young international movement - as you know.But he must already have been well-known through the work of the Beggarstaff Brothers.<br /><br />It's a shame I couldn't find online images of early work. You would have found it interesting. Campbell is well worth a look.Haji babahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10619515066447546979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post-1849392426804170412012-05-21T23:03:37.892+01:002012-05-21T23:03:37.892+01:00Fascinating post about an important artist. You...Fascinating post about an important artist. You're right to note the faux-naif element in his "woodcuts" (and I never knew they were actually engravings from the endgrain). But more importantly you show how Nicholson both drew from and influenced European printmaking - and for any British artist of his day to have an influence on the Continent, they had to be right at the top their game.Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020242863144175965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post-89697647632671702622012-05-21T10:02:09.046+01:002012-05-21T10:02:09.046+01:00And Clive, I share your ambivalance about Nicholso...And Clive, I share your ambivalance about Nicholson. He was somewhere between a nineties publishing phenomenon and a modern original printmaker. To do him justice, he needs placing in context, which I didn't have the space for: everything from the Kelmscott Press to Batten's fairy tales to the Yellow Book. Fine books and fine illustration were in the air.<br /><br />Also with more space, I could have talked about the greater effect he had in Europe, particularly on Secessionist printmaking in Vienna. But here in Britain, he had a great effect on popular decorative image-making right through to Verpilleux, Claud Lovat Fraser and early Hall Thorpe. He was very effective in what he did over less than ten years.<br /><br />He was of course also encouraged by others to go on (Heinemann, Kipling) and he needed to make a living. It accounts for the uneveness you've pointed out. But we must be charitable.Haji babahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10619515066447546979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post-1706347789465757202012-05-21T09:43:58.073+01:002012-05-21T09:43:58.073+01:00Gerrie, the second time I went into Local Studies ...Gerrie, the second time I went into Local Studies at Nottingham Library, the staff brought out ALL their Nicholson material, but I did draw most on Colin Campbell's excellent 'William Nicholson, the graphic work'. I could only really suggest the bigger picture in this post. I could have said alot more - and probably will.Haji babahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10619515066447546979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post-7605973699645160802012-05-21T06:09:02.617+01:002012-05-21T06:09:02.617+01:00This last contribution is reading like a novel and...This last contribution is reading like a novel and educating like a textbook. It's the analysis and placing in context with time and other artists that I hope is forecasting the contents and quality of "the Book". What Bach was to classical music, Nicholson was to Modern Printmaking. And Haji-Baba the new Malcolm Salaman. Thank you Charles for sharing your insight and knowledge !Gerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01985746967465520617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2195425069670824214.post-14912094168143538992012-05-21T04:13:10.992+01:002012-05-21T04:13:10.992+01:00Another wonderfully executed and illuminated posti...Another wonderfully executed and illuminated posting Charles. I think you have become quite adept at drawing the thread of graphic printmakers both domestic and international and helping us to join the dots. <br /><br />Your constant discovery of the arc of printmaking is a joy to read. I am never very sure of how I feel about Nicholson. On his best days his works are wonderful with a simplicity that belies their complexity. On his worst day he is an illustrated magazine contributor who lacks shade and complexity. I often think that of all the British woodcut artists, his works are the most Germanic, and there is more than a touch of Orlik in his works...and by that I mean the very best of Orlik. <br /><br />I think sadly because of the alphabet works, Nicholson has largely been sidelined...rightly or wrongly. M is for marginalized....and D is for dated. It's a shame in the end, because as your posting amply points out...there is plenty to recommend Nicholson to the modern collector, and it doesn't have to have a letter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com