Guardsmen Use Shell

Key facts

Catalogue Number

515
Title

Guardsmen Use Shell
Date

1938
Artist

Ben Nicholson

Ben Nicholson (1894–1982) was the son of the painter Sir William Nicholson. He studied at the Slade School of Art before travelling in Europe. Nicholson was a member of several influential artists groups and co-founder of Unit One with the sculptor Barbara Hepworth (who later became his second wife). He was influenced by Piet Mondrian and developed a style of geometrical reliefs. His major contribution to Modernism were his all white reliefs produced in 1934. In 1939 he moved to St. Ives in Cornwall and became the centre of an artists’ colony there. He was awarded an Order of Merit in 1968.