Join art historian and curator Jovan Nicholson for a lecture exploring in more detail the friendship between art collector and patron Helen Sutherland and artists Ben and Winifred Nicholson.

Helen Sutherland met Ben and Winifred Nicholson in 1925 buying two of their paintings and, in doing so, embarked on a journey of patronage to several emerging artists at the time. Between 1929 and 1939 she leased Rock Hall, near Alnwick in Northumberland, effectively as a sanctuary away from London for her burgeoning circle of artist friends. She was one of few women to be supporting these artists at a time when the art world establishment was still somewhat reluctant to engage with modern art and its creators. Her tastes were eclectic and brave; she bought art few others would.

Jovan Nicholson is an independent art historian and curator with a particular interest in modern British art. He is an acknowledged expert on Winifred Nicholson’s work, a grandson of Ben and Winifred Nicholson, and a nephew of Kate Nicholson. He curated and wrote the accompanying catalogues for Art and life: Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis, William Staite Murray, 1920-1931 (Dulwich Picture Gallery; Winifred Nicholson in Cumberland (Abbot Hall Art Gallery); Winifred Nicholson: Liberation of Colour (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art).