We finally made it to the William Nicholson exhibition at Pallant House – a beautiful exhibition, larger and more comprehensive than I was expecting, showing the full range of his work, including his luscious and beautifully observed still lives which, along with his portraits, are what one remembers.
I was intrigued that he never became an RA. The answer is, not surprisingly, that he was asked in 1926, but turned it down on the grounds that ‘the idea of a label of any sort scares me away from all desire to paint’. Maybe he was a bit less conformist than he appears.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
We saw this exhibition a bit by accident. We booked cheap train tickets to go to see the Caroline Walker at Pallant House and, of course, this was on show as well. I enjoyed the Nicholsons much more than I expected to. I am very much looking forward to Art on The Underground unveiling their Caroline Walker commission at Stratford Station in September.
Dear Charles Did not know this was on – my mother in law commissioned him to paint my husband and his brother Love Janice