THIS summer Falmouth Art Gallery is showing a major exhibition of works by Winifred Nicholson (1893-1981), co-curated by the artist’s grandson Jovan Nicholson. It brings together an important selection of works created throughout her career, including her visit to Pill Creek on The Fal in Cornwall.

Falmouth is the last stop for the exhibition which has also been displayed in Middlesbrough and Nottingham. It examines the key creative periods of this significant British artist with a particular emphasis on the way she treated light and colour. It features landscapes, still life, portraits, experiments with abstraction and the previously unseen prismatic pictures.

Winifred was described by one of 1920’s leading critics of the period as "probably (having) no equal among modern British painters as a colourist of the most exquisite refinement." She expressed her ideas about colour through flowers, preferably wild ones, "flowers and jewels are the only things that express colour fairly constantly,"she said.

Winifred and her then husband, fellow artist Ben Nicholson, who later had triplets with sculptor Barbara Hepworth, visited Cornwall in the summer of 1928. At first they stayed near Feock, overlooking Pill Creek – a beautiful spot on the River Fal. Winifred and Ben also stayed in a flat overlooking the harbour in St Ives.

In the last few years of her life Winifred created a collection of prismatic paintings that were a remarkable culmination of her career. They developed the ideas she first expressed in her writings over 30 years previously and will be shown as part of the exhibition.

“We are extremely privileged to be showing a selection of Winifred’s paintings including her prismatic paintings, a series that has been little exhibited," said Henrietta Boex, director of Falmouth Art Gallery. "It is also very fitting that the exhibition includes two of the works that she painted whilst staying on the River Fal.

“This exhibition wouldn’t have been possible without the support and enthusiasm of Jovan Nicholson, Ben and Winifred’s grandson and we are indebted to him for his passion and tireless dedication to the project.”

Winifred Nicholson: Liberation of Colour opens on Saturday, June 24, and runs until September 16. Entry is free and the gallery is open from 10am until 5pm, Monday to Saturday. For information on this exhibition contact Donna Williams on 01326 313863 or info@falmouthartgallery.com

The exhibition has been organised by Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art, part of Teeside University, with Jovan Nicholson.