1897
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
An Alphabet: B is for Beggar is a 1897 by William Nicholson, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a thin man in tattered clothes, standing with a small bundle on a stick over his shoulder. A dog walks beside him. The background is plain and pale. This print is part of a full alphabet series Nicholson made for a publisher who loved art and books. He used strong outlines and flat shapes, like Japanese woodcuts. The style gives the image a quiet, simple power. It shows daily struggle without drama. Look next at the subject: england, 19th century. (Word count: 98)
Nicholson, like so many European and American artists at the time, was influenced by the nontraditional aspects of Japanese art. As in ukiyo-e, Japanese color woodcuts, Nicholson used a limited color scheme and simplified forms, silhouetting his subjects on solid backgrounds that flatten space. An Alphabet was the first of several sets of prints Nicholson made for the publisher William Heinemann, who was not solely motivated by profit; he found books a source of intellectual pleasure and, as a cultured man with cosmopolitan tastes, appreciated Nicholson’s bold and witty designs. Nicholson cut…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (5 February 1872 – 16 May 1949) was a British painter of still-life, landscape and portraits.
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