SUNDAY NIGHT ART SNACK: JOSEPH DECKER, WILLIAM NICHOLSON, JAMES HAMILTON HAY, TRISTRAM HILLIER.

Imho one of the best art accounts on Twitter/X (can't get used to the latter) is Richard Morris's, who focuses on non-mainstream, but excellent, painters of, generally, the last two centuries.

'Green Plums.' (1882) While Joseph Decker's work received critical attention during his lifetime, it is only within the past thirty years or so that he has been recognised as one of America's most notable still-life painters. This picture ranks with the best of his work. A critic… pic.twitter.com/1A4YHjaMG9

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) November 14, 2024

Joseph Decker (c. 1853 – 1 April 1924) was a German-born American painter who specialized in still-lifes. Later in his career he tried his hand at landscapes. It's too bad the man died destitute in Brooklyn in 1924, the value of his work only called to attention in 1949 by the art historian Alfred Frankenstein.

'The First Communion,' (1907) shows a young girl running from a house in a floating communion dress. These flat architectural façades set in a shallow picture space feature in several works by William Nicholson but the division into light and shade is novel, and little details… pic.twitter.com/KdICG1s1Td

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) November 12, 2024

Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (5 February 1872 – 16 May 1949) was a British painter of still-life, landscape and portraits. This particular work calls to mind of John Singer Sargent.

James Hamilton Hay had a passion for Japanese colour prints and this influence is reflected in the decorative nature of many of his works including this beautifully lit, Whistlerian work, 'The Golden Blinds,' from 1909. pic.twitter.com/e09Roueif4

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) November 8, 2024

James Hamilton Hay (1874-1916) was, apart from painter, also a printmaker. Born in Birkenhead, Liverpool, the son of an architect, he trained in St Ives, Cornwall with Julius Olsson (q.v.) in the 1890s, then at Liverpool School of Art. He painted and etched landscapes, marine scenes and portraits and was influenced by Spencer Gore (q.v.), the Camden Town Group and the work of Francis Dodd…

'The Kitchen Table.' (1958) Tristram Hiller painted still lifes throughout his career always preferring to paint objects which he said showed character or personality and developing as he did so his hard-edged disquieting style of work, helped greatly by using tempera which… pic.twitter.com/0ZrrACOVgN

— Richard Morris (@ahistoryinart) November 7, 2024

A British painter of landscape, still-life, and occasional religious subjects, Tristram Hillier was born in Beijing, where his father was manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. After two years studying at Cambridge University (which he described as ‘a waste of time’), he was apprenticed to a London firm of chartered accountants, but he quickly abandoned this career to study at the Slade School under Tonks (1926–1927), while also attending evening classes at the Westminster School of Art. He then went to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Colarossi under Lhote, and until 1940 he lived mainly in the south of France, with visits to Spain, which he ‘came to love above all other countries’. (via artuk dot org)



Good night, and may you have a productive and happy week ahead of you.



MFBB.