Artists

From Albert Adams to Portia Zvavahera, Strauss & Co maintains a detailed database of every artist sold at auction since 2009. Whether it is painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, ceramics or new media, this searchable database lists by artist every lot offered and provides aggregated data useful to collectors. Famous South African artists like William Kentridge, JH Pierneef, Alexis Preller and Irma Stern are introduced with helpful biographies along with the best contemporary artists.



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Ben Nicholson

British 1894-1982 


Ben Nicholson was a prominent British painter born in Denham, Buckinghamshire, to artists William Nicholson and Mabel Pryde. He studied at the Slade School of Art from 1910 to 1911 and spent significant time in France and Italy from 1912 to 1914, later traveling to the United States in 1917-18.

Nicholson's early works were still lifes influenced by his father, but in the 1920s, he embraced figurative and abstract styles inspired by Post-Impressionism and Cubism. His geometric and abstract reliefs emerged in 1933. He exhibited his work for the first time in 1919 and held his first solo show in 1924 at the Twenty-one Gallery in London. Nicholson was a key member of the Seven and Five Society from 1924 to 1935 and joined Unit One, founded by Paul Nash, in 1933. Alongside Naum Gabo and architect Leslie Martin, he co-edited Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art in 1937, which promoted the application of constructivist principles in art.

Nicholson received numerous accolades throughout his career, including first prize at the Carnegie International in 1952 and the Guggenheim International painting prize in 1956. He was honoured with the Order of Merit in 1968. His work has been showcased in major retrospectives, including exhibitions at the Venice Biennale and Tate Gallery. With the support of the British Council and writer Herbert Read, Nicholson became a defining figure in British modernism, celebrated for his mathematical precision and innovative approach to colour and form.


3 lots offered      100.00% sold      ZAR 217 398
 

  Including Premium and VAT Results include Buyer's Premium and VAT
Ben Nicholson; Paros II, 1967
22 Oct 2024
Sold for ZAR 29 313
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Ben Nicholson; Tree, Column and Moon
30 Jul 2014
Sold for ZAR 17 565
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Ben Nicholson; Complex of Goblets
17 Mar 2014
Sold for ZAR 170 520
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT