Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1539834
artists Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood, David Jones, John Piper, Paul Nash, Cedric Morris, William Staite Murray, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Ivon Hitchens, Frances Hodgkins, Frank Dobson, Eric Gill, Henry Moore, John Skeaping and Barbara Hepworth, the society hostess Lady Ottoline Morrell, writer T.E. Lawrence and collector and patron Edward Marsh (Edward Marsh was Sir Edward Marsh, although not knighted until 1937, so up to you whether you add or not!) A particularly close bond evolved between the Edes, Nicholsons, David Jones, the collector Helen Sutherland and the pianist Vera Moore. 12 Ben and Winifred Nicholson first signed the Elm Row visitors' book on 20 November 1925. They were near in age to the Edes and would soon, like them, have young children (the Edes' daughters, Mary and Elisabeth, were born in 1921 and 1924). Meeting several times a week, they even shared holidays. Ede wrote about the Nicholsons' work, visited their studios, acquired, borrowed or exchanged works, and introduced them to dealers, collectors and artists in Paris. Moreover, Ben's humour chimed with Jim's. Ede recalled, 'Winifred Nicholson taught me much about the fusing of art and daily living, and Ben that traffic in Piccadilly had the rhythm of a ballet and a game of tennis the perfection of an old master. Life with them at once seemed lively, satisfying and special.' 13 Ede also admired their 'wonderful touch' with interiors: 'an ugly room would at once become beautiful; a few wooden boxes, some butter muslin, a coat of paint over an old stove; and quite common objects took on a dignity and sparkle.' 14 Among the first paintings to hang at Elm Row was Winifred's Seascape (Sea and Sand) (1926), created during a shared summer holiday in Bamburgh. Ede had watched Winifred's difficulty in keeping the wet canvas from blowing against her clothes, and the exhilarating result: 'I had never seen sea treated in this way; so loose, so bold, so unconcerned with detail.' 15 He acquired Ben Nicholson's May 1927 (still life with knife and lemon), bringing it home 'through the rush hour, hopping on & off moving buses' to hang in 'our dark macabre bedroom'. 16 Ben introduced Ede to Alfred Wallis, a St Ives fisherman who began painting in 1922 after his wife's death. Ede and Wallis never met but corresponded frequently, Wallis sending parcels of paintings that Ede would treasure, while also giving or selling works to friends and museums. Seeing his first Wallis in a photograph, Ede wrote, You can't expect me to pay much attention to pictures by Ben Nicholson or by Winifred Nicholson when you send me this … It is enchanting – has all the feeling of a sea port & what is more looks like a ship. I'd just love to see some & will surely want to have some if he wishes to sell them to procure tobacco! 17 12 Fisher, p.37–38. 13 Ede, 'Introduction', Kettle's Yard: an illustrated Guide, University of Cambridge, 1982, unpaginated. Ede's introduction was reprinted from the Handlist of 1970. 14 Ede, 'Between Two Memories: an autobiography by Jim Ede', c.1946–1947, postscript 1975, p.108, Kettle's Yard Archive, KY/EDE/4/1/1, quoted in Freeman, p.47. 15 Ede, A Way of Life, p.221. 16 Ede, letter to Ben Nicholson, undated [1929], Tate Archive, TGA 8717/1/2/850. 17 Ede, letter to Ben Nicholson, 20 October 1928, Tate Archive, TGA 8717/1/2/842. 8