Paintings by Winifred Nicholson and John Wells. At the Lefevre
Gallery.
THERE have been precious few women painters whose pictures dis- play the qualities romantically associated with the sex. Berthe Morrisot was one, Winifred Nicholson is one, and Frances Hodgkins is one, though the latter has something more as well. Dame Laura Knight is conspicuously not. To associate gentleness, sensitivity, elegance and taste with the female sex per se is perhaps romantic and probably a sweeping generalisation, but Winifred Nicholson possesses these qualities in abundance, and her work, even if one sees her pictures without knowing their authorship, is manifestly feminine painting. She has an exquisite colour sense and a most delicate feeling for pictorial design ; her pictures have a lyrical gaiety which is never obstreperous and a passive and uncloying sweetness which would make them essentially pleasant companions in a pleasant house. What she lacks is strength, strength in drawing. strength of image and strength of expression. That is the quality which makes Frances Hodgkins the greatest living painter of her sex, for Miss Hodgkins possesses the requisite strength and all the other qualities as well. It is Winifred Nicholson's drawing which lets her down, when she tackles anything more complex than a flat vase of flowers on a table. It would be interesting to compare her still lifes with those of the late Christopher Wood, upon whom Mrs. Nicholson's earlier pictures had a profound influence. Wood had the requisite strength of drawing and an almost feminine sense of pale colour harmonies. He may have been a greater artist, but his debt to Winifred Nicholson is a very obvious one. Such of her pictures, in the present exhibition, as Petit Trianon, Rooks, Hyacinths and Snow, and Two Cyclamen have a natural delicacy and a lyrical spontaneity which make seeing them a delicious and happy experience.
John Wells is in the process of graduating from amateur to pro- fessional status, and in my opinion his first exhibition is premature. He has skill and his craftsmanship is good, but there are too many undigested influences in his present work for any clear picture to be
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