Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/504747
11 Reliefs Nov 1960 (Anne), 1970 (Menalon), 1971 (Dolphin), 1971 (Two squares and very green) and July 1977 (Vertical Landscape) belong to the important body of painted hardboard reliefs that Nicholson created during the 1960s and 1970s. It is Nicholson's iconic reliefs which earned him the reputation as Britain's most important abstract artist. These carefully crafted works also show Nicholson redefining the parameters of painting within the context of international modernism as he engaged with Minimalism and the rise of Arte Povera. During the 1930s Nicholson first created abstract relief sculptures with his series of geometrical white reliefs on painted wood, using only circles and straight lines. Then in 1937, together with Naum Gabo and the British architect Leslie Martin, Nicholson edited the monograph Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art, which championed the introduction of mathematical elements, clean lines and minimalist ornamentation into art. These later works are similarly defined by their compositional harmony: simplified, geometric forms intersect and, whilst Nicholson has introduced colour, he has used a carefully reduced palette of soft whites and browns to achieve a poetic minimalism. To create each of the painted reliefs Nicholson would work on the floor, carving into the surface of the board with razor blades and chisels. With his use of everyday materials, awareness of the tactile quality of these objects and questioning of the boundaries of painting, his deep interest in Arte Povera is evident. It was during the 1960s that Burri, an artist Nicholson greatly admired, rose to prominence. He exhibited alongside Burri and Afro at the 1964 exhibition of radical contemporary art, Documenta III in Kassel, Germany.