Painter, printmaker, designer and storyteller, William Nicholson was one of the most distinctive British artists of the early 20th century. These 10 things explore the life, work and influence of an artist whose career spanned graphic design, portraiture, still life and landscape.

Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (1872–1949) was a British painter, printmaker, illustrator, and designer. Renowned for his dazzling still lifes, expansive landscapes, and masterful portraits, Nicholson captured the spirit of an era. Vivid and thought-provoking, with bold brushwork, exquisite colour and an eye for beauty, Nicholson’s work continues to defy categorisation.

Nicholson met the artist Mabel Pryde while they were both studying at Herbert Herkomer’s art school in the late 1880s. Nicholson had four children with Mabel Pryde, including the celebrated modernist Ben Nicholson and designer Nancy Nicholson. Despite the different directions William’s and Ben’s art took, William’s approach to still life and landscape in particular, as well as his collection of objects, would have a significant influence on Ben. Mabel Pryde died suddenly in 1918, from the influenza pandemic. Nicholson went on to marry Edith Stuart Wortley, known as Edie, also an artist who painted under the name Elizabeth Drury, in 1919.

Nicholson’s career began in collaboration with his brother-in-law, James Pryde, whom he had met at art school. Together they formed the duo, ‘J. & W. Beggarstaff’, working on poster designs for the theatre and commercial products. Their approach to design was radical at the time, through their use of collage, stencilling and flat planes of colour. Through early connections to London’s cultural world, Nicholson formed an important relationship with the publisher William Heinemann. His bold woodcuts published with Heinemann such as An Alphabet (1897), London Types (1898) and Twelve Portraits (1899) earned early acclaim.

From 1901, Nicholson decided to step back from printmaking to focus on portrait painting, which would provide a good income to support his growing family. He began by using family and friends as models, but soon became a sought-after portraitist, working to commission. Examples include woodcut portraits of writers and artists such as Rudyard Kipling and James McNeill Whistler and later commissions of influential figures such as the garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll.

Nicholson was known as a dapper dresser, complete with high starched collars and canary yellow waistcoats even when working in the studio. One sitter noted that ‘his costume was so eccentric as almost to verge on fancy dress.’ Nicholson did love fancy dress, collecting costumes and props that he would use in portraits, such as in one of his daughter, Nancy in a Feather Hat (1910).

Nicholson had a close connection to the London theatre world, having important early friendships with writers J.M. Barrie and theatre impresario Edward Gordon Craig. Nicholson designed the costumes for the first ever production of Peter Pan in 1904. He would go on to work with the dancer and choreographer Léonide Massine to design the sets as well as the costumes for two ballets in 1925-6, and with Noël Coward in 1927.

William Nicholson is best known for his remarkable still life paintings. Everyday objects like glasses, and jugs to loaves of bread and flowers are treated with a kind of reverence. His grandson and biographer, Andrew Nicholson, wrote that his still lifes ‘grew out of the way he lived’.

Nicholson was a master of light. Lustre, pewter and other reflective ware such as silver were among Nicholson’s favourites. His brushwork captures the gleam of pewter, a delicate fruit skin, the reflection of light on glass.

Following holidays in Sussex in the early 1900s, Nicholson bought the old vicarage in Rottingdean, near Brighton in 1909. He renamed it ‘The Grange’ and it became his home and studio until late 1914. It was in the rolling Sussex Downs where Nicholson discovered his love of landscape painting. Many of his landscapes were painted on small canvas boards that could be carried in his paintbox while strolling in the countryside. These expansive views often verge on abstraction, drawing comparison with the landscapes of JM Whistler.

William Nicholson had a great sense of humour and a love of games. Known as ‘The Kid’ to his family and friends, Nicholson’s children’s book illustrations reveal his playful side. Perhaps his best known of these are his charming illustrations for Margery William’s The Velveteen Rabbit (1922), which bring the beloved story of a toy rabbit to life. He also created witty and sentimental gestures of love for his loved ones. This included a hand-painted dress for his wife, Edie Nicholson, full of secret illustrations and messages.