Although Ben Nicholson had explored the possibilities of monochrome art in his white reliefs of the early 1930s, he never abandoned color entirely. This composition shows an architectonic approach inspired by Piet Mondrian, whom he had met in Paris in the early 1930s. Color is limited to red and blue, and confined to simple geometric forms. While the overall effect is resolutely nonrepresentational, it nonetheless echoes his earlier still lifes in the way in which the various shapes and colors are ordered on the picture plane. Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)
