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Subverting Heron's decade-old admiration of 'sheer taste' to suggest something safe and genial, he described: a cool, restrained and precise style which echoes the geometric arrangements of Ben Nicholson, except that decorative elegance takes precedence over formal relations, so that one is aware of a faultless display of visual good manners. Clean rectangles with uninterrupted surfaces of tastefully controlled clear colour politely greet the eye in pleasing sequences that leave one agreeably reassured. 3 Looking afresh, there is scant evidence of the decorative, however. Constructed Relief is an austerely conceived work in painted wood, polystyrene and perspex, composed rigidly of squares, planes and rectangles. It balances perfectly, yet without the complete symmetry that might pall. Was there a motivation beyond its pure form? Wells' account of creating Painting (1962) provides an interesting parallel. As he worked on it, in the early hours, a storm raged: the roof began to lift and water collected in a bucket nearby. Wells completed the painting's composition by adding a vertical white line. Only later did he perceive this as representing the wind, shrieking outside. 4 1. Patrick Heron, The Changing Forms of Art (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1955), p. 204. 2. John Spurling, 'Eminent Edwardian' [review of 'John Wells: The Fragile Cell' at Tate St Ives], The Spectator (1 August 1998), p. 42. 3. James Burr, 'Round the London Galleries', Apollo (September 1964), p. 240. 4. John Wells (October 1964), in Tate Gallery Report 1964–5 (London: The Tate Gallery, 1965), p. 57. John Wells Constructed Relief, 1963 at the Gallery 96