Dimensions: support: 457 x 610 mm frame: 596 x 704 x 54 mm
Copyright: © Angela Verren Taunt 2014. All rights reserved, DACS | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Ben Nicholson's "1921 - circa 1923 (Cortivallo, Lugano)," part of the Tate collection. The subdued palette creates a sense of quiet contemplation. What visual symbols strike you in this landscape? Curator: Notice how the stark, bare tree divides the canvas. A symbol of winter, perhaps, but also of resilience. And that single red building—a heart amidst the snow. What emotional associations does the colour red evoke for you in this context? Editor: I think it draws the eye and feels like a sign of hope, or warmth maybe. Curator: Precisely. Colour acts as a key cultural signifier. Nicholson uses it sparingly to amplify its emotional impact. Together, the tree and the building form a powerful symbolic contrast. Editor: That’s fascinating. I hadn’t considered the emotional weight of the colour itself!
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/nicholson-1921-circa-1923-cortivallo-lugano-t05530
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From 1920 to 1923 Ben Nicholson and his wife Winifred spent winter and spring near Lake Lugano in Switzerland. Cortivallo, the subject of this painting, was one of the nearby villages. During the early 1920s Nicholson broke away from a conventional manner of painting to a more experimental style. For this he drew on his knowledge of the modern art he’d seen in Paris on his journey from London. The rough modelling of forms and unfinished brushwork are reminiscent of the work of the French Post-Impressionist painter, Paul Cézanne. Gallery label, September 2004
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