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6 1939 was an important and transitional year for Ben Nicholson, as it was for the world at large. Nicholson moved with his then wife, Barbara Hepworth, to St. Ives as an escape from the onset of War in London. Whilst the move meant leaving behind the avant-garde circles of London, Nicholson, along with Hepworth and Russian Constructivist Naum Gabo, were quick to build up a new artistic milieu, creating in this small Cornish town an international centre for the Modernist movement, that is now such a recognised and vital era of 20 th century art history. Painting 1939 is both a classic example of Nicholson's painting from the late 1930s, and a monument to a new period in his life and career. The 1930s signalled a new International appeal and outlook. Nicholson was firstly invited by Jean Hélion to exhibit with the modernist circle Abstract-Création in 1931. Then in 1937 he was also included by Alfred Barr in his era-defining exhibition and publication Cubism and Abstract Art where he was placed alongside Piet Mondrian as a major proponent of geometric abstraction. Indeed it was during the 1930s that Nicholson's work came closest to Mondrian's. It was also a period of great personal attachment between the two artists. Having met in 1934 at Mondrian's studio, the pair began a regular correspondence and exchange of ideas. Under Nicholson's direction Mondrian left Paris in 1938 to set up a studio in Hampstead, where the two were neighbours until Nicholson's departure in 1939. The second half of the 1930s saw Nicholson's return to painting and colour following the creation of his iconic white reliefs. In works such as Painting 1939 the influence of Mondrian can be recognised in the careful and exact delineation of geometric forms and unified areas colour. However, Nicholson's painting contrasts a more subtle, tonal use of colour against smaller areas of bold colour. These contrasts present a playful and organic sense of movement, receding outwards from the painting's central focus of the white square. Despite the apparently 'pure' abstraction of Painting 1939, as with the bulk of Nicholson's oeuvre, the inspiration for the work comes from the experience of nature. This can be seen in his use of 'natural' colours, particularly the use of cool greys and the warm brown form in the central square of the work. The forms of this work can also be seen to evoke a much abstracted still life composition on a table, relating this work to Nicholson's ongoing determination to explore abstraction within a framework provided by the visible world. Painting, 1939 Signed, dated and extensively inscribed verso Oil on canvas stretched over wood panel 18 1/4 x 23 3/4 in, 46.5 x 60.4 cm Provenance Major L. Lawrence, Nassau, Bahamas Brook Street Gallery, London Gallery Urban, Tokyo Helly Nahmad Gallery, London Exhibitions South Africa, British Council, Contemporary British Art, 1947/8