Graham Nickson: Dual Natures

Graham Nickson: Dual Natures captures the essential core of Graham Nickson's paintings of the past 30 years: the figure in the landscape, in particular the coastal landscape. The long, low-lying horizon that sharply divides the picture is in stark contrast to the nearly always uprightness of the figures. An unstated proposition arises: Do nature and man co-exist or is man simply a passing moment, an incident that marks time?

The text by Andrew Forge and Harold Cooper address this question and examine the profound scholarship of and homage to certain key figures in art. Obvious references include Cezanne's Bather, the quiet and solemn paintings of Picasso's blue period, Matisse's color and light, the sculptures of Rodin and Degas. Nickson straddles the depictive and abstract in a way that brings vigor to the work, using enigma and ambiguity to engage the viewer in the drama of a moment.