William Nicholson (artist)

Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson ( born February 5, 1872 in Newark-on -Trent, † May 16 1949 in Blewbury ) was a British painter, graphic artist and illustrator and author of children's books.

Life and work

He was the son of William Newzam Nicholson, an industrialist and member of the Conservative Party in Newark and Annie Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Prior and Elizabeth of Woodstock.

Nicholson studied at Hubert von Herkomer's art school in Bushey. His partnership with his brother in law James Pryde was distinguished by excellent graphical work and woodcuts; they were known as the " Beggarstaff Brothers" ( " beggar - brothers "), whose studio community existed from 1894 to 1898. Their designs were the trend for the modern poster design. With her new style - simplified lines, and reduced dimensionality color - they revolutionized the poster in 19th century England. Nicholson and Pryde were the first graphic, the limited share of the font on the poster to a minimum and the pictorial representation stressed. The German " Sachplakat ", an introduced around 1905 poster type that is more oriented to the economic objectives of the industry, has been much inspired by her style.

In 1893 Nicholson married the artist Mabel Pryde ( 1871-1918). After 1900 he worked mainly on the advice of Whistler with the painting. At the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam in 1928 he won a gold medal in the arts graphic.

In 1936, Nicholson was knighted. The painter Ben Nicholson and Nancy Nicholson and the architect Christopher, Kit 'Nicholson were his children.

Nicholson illustrated early books by Robert Graves along with Nancy Graves ' first wife. He wrote and illustrated children's books such as The Velveteen Rabbit (1922 ) by Margery Williams and his written his own books Clever Bill (1926) and The Pirate Twins (1929 ) for the publisher Faber & Faber. Furthermore, he created stained glass windows, for example, the St Andrew 's Church, Mells.