Ben Nicholson, the son of artists William Nicholson and Mabel Pryde, studied at the Slade School of Art from 1910-11. From 1912-14 he spent time in France and Italy, followed by 1917-18 in the USA. In 1920 he married the artist Winifred Roberts and over the next few years they spent their winters in Lugano, Switzerland and then split their time between London and Cumberland.
The inspiration for Nicholson's art extended far beyond his own family. His first works were still lifes painted in a naturalistic fashion but new influences soon became apparent inspired by Cezanne and the Cubists. Nicholson first encountered Cubism through the works of Picasso on a visit to Paris in 1921. Thereafter he started rendering his repertoire of jugs, glasses and other tabletop objects as flat shapes on a picture plane. In later life, Nicholson stated that 'Cubism, once discovered, couldn't be undiscovered'. It was a movement that continued to inspire him at difference points throughout his career.
On a personal dimension, Nicholson went on to develop a close relationship with Barbara Hepworth which resulted in the breakdown of his marriage to Winifred. They divorced in 1931 and he and Hepworth married in 1938, later divorcing in 1951. Nicholson lived in London from 1932-39 making several trips to Paris in 1932/33 and visiting the studios of Picasso, Braque, Arp, Brancusi and Mondrian with whom he struck up a close and firm friendship with Mondrian subsequently moving to London. During the 1930s Nicholson and Mondrian were leading forces of abstract art in Europe.
From 1939-58 Nicholson lived and worked in Cornwall before finally moving to Switzerland in 1974.