Francis Nicholson (1753 – 1844)
Painter, Printmaker and Drawing Master
Some of the Celebratory Events in North Yorkshire in the bicentenary year of his Presidency of the Society of Painters in Watercolour in 1812, now known as the Old Watercolour Society.
Hailed by his contemporaries as the “Father of watercolour painting in this country”, Francis Nicholson’s career spanned nine decades. He witnessed the founding of the Royal Academy, the opening of the first public ‘Picture Gallery’, the founding of the National Gallery, the growth of provincial Fine Arts Societies and not least, the Inaugural Exhibition of the Society of Painters in Watercolours of which he was a founder member.
He was born in Pickering, North Yorkshire and for some fifty years painted portraits and scenes mainly in the northern counties. After his marriage, he worked from Whitby, Knaresborough, and Ripon before moving his family to London. For a further forty years, he continued to paint in watercolours and established himself not only as a fashionable drawing master but as an early exponent of the newly discovered medium of “lithography”- the art of making prints from drawings on stone.
To celebrate the bicentenary of his Presidency of the Society that gave rise to the “Golden Age of British Watercolours”, a ‘Nicholson Group’ was formed to recognise his achievements in the town of his birth and to mount an exhibition of his contribution to “watercolour painting in this country”. A catalogue will be published at the opening of “Francis Nicholson (1753-1844) Painter, Printmaker, and Drawing Master” at The Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum, which will be open from March 31 to May 20. This exhibition, curated by Prof. Gordon Bell, the first ever retrospective of Nicholson`s work in Yorkshire will include portraits, oils, prints and drawings but importantly watercolours including some from the Wordsworth Collection. Works by his nephew George Nicholson(1787 -1878)who was born in Malton and worked mainly in Yorkshire will be included.
March Lectures in Pickering (WEA on 9th), Ripon and Harrogate (Prof Bell)
March 3O Preview Opening of Exhibition
March 31 – May 20 Exhibition open to the public at Ryedale Folk Museum.
Pre- booked groups/ schools can book a talk and guided tour – contact details below
April 28 WEA Study Day Pickering and Ryedale Folk Museum (Prof Bell)
October 11 – 31 Whitby Art Gallery/Pannett Museum Exhibition of Prints only.
October 24 2.15 lecture and tour at the Whitby Museum/Gallery – details below.
There is a small display about Francis Nicholson in the Beck Isle Museum, Pickering where a coloured illustrated booklet by Colin Coulson maybe purchased or by post £3 from below.
Inquiries about any of above from Nicholson Group, 102 Outgang Road.Pickering YO18 7EL or jhd102@pcxinternet.com Cheques for booklet Pickering & District Civic Society.