Single jug and single cup, Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Single jug and single cup
DE
Back to top

Ben Nicholson

Single jug and single cup, 1965


Rahmen
518 x 462 x 42 mm
Pressspanplatte
520 x 448 mm
Blatt
330 x 263 mm
Platte
245 x 201 mm
Physical Description
Black balltip pen and oil paint on wove paper, with visible indentations created by the edges of the plate of a proof (printed on the verso and crossed out with pencil and a black drawing medium), mounted on press board, painted grey and scraped, in wooden frame
Inventory Number
17905
Object Number
17905 Z
Acquisition
Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection
Status
Not on display

Texts

About the Work

Behind the glass of this framed object, we see a still-life drawing against a background animated with dynamic scrapes. Nicholson drew it on the back of a print reject (the edges of the plate are clearly discernible). With a few sparse lines, he described a jug and a cup. The contours intersect and merge. In one place, the artist accentuated the drawing with a small zone of black. The theme of the composition is the tension between the lines, but also the relationships between surface and space, object and drawing.

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Single jug and single cup
Draughtsman
Period Produced
Object Type
Physical Description
Black balltip pen and oil paint on wove paper, with visible indentations created by the edges of the plate of a proof (printed on the verso and crossed out with pencil and a black drawing medium), mounted on press board, painted grey and scraped, in wooden frame
Material
Technique
Geographic Reference
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Verso auf dem Velinpapier signiert, datiert und bezeichnet unten rechts (mit Bleistift): Nicholson / oct 65 / over [daneben auf recto verweisender Pfeil]; bezeichnet unten links (von fremder Hand?, mit rotem Stift): p 682 [um 90 Grad gedreht]
Verso auf der Rahmenrückwand bezeichnet mittig (von fremder Hand?): NICHOLSON / L965 / (single jug + single cup) / p. 682 // [Richtungspfeil]
Watermark
  • Nicht feststellbar

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
Acquisition
Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

Iconclass

Primary
  • 0 Abstract, Non-representational Art
  • 41C324 tankard
  • 41C32 drinking-vessels
Secondary
  • 49D32 line (~ planimetry, geometry)

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
Verkauf durch Gimpel & Hanover, Zürich an Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt, 1966
Nachlass Karl Ströher, 1977
an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main
Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known:

  • the type of acquisition and/or the way the object changed hands
  • the owner's name and place of residence
  • the date on which it changed hands

The successive ownership records are separated from each other by a semicolon.

Gaps in the record of a provenance are indicated by the placeholder “…”. Unsupported information is listed in square brackets.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact the museum at .

More to discover

Albums

Contact

Do you have any suggestions, questions or information about this work?

Last update

11.09.2023