People think that painting a sunrise is like taking a photograph: you’ve captured the whole thing in one second. But you aren’t doing that at all. You are actually painting, a sequence of time, and it often can be as long as several hours from darkness to almost mid-morning. - Graham Nickson, 2006

Betty Cuningham Gallery is pleased to present its first exhibition of the work of New York based artist, Graham Nickson. The exhibition, which runs from April 11 through May 22, 2015, features 24 watercolors accompanied by a single painting. The artist will be present for an opening reception on Saturday, April 11, 5–7:30pm.

Nickson, who has shown in New York since the mid 1970s, is particularly identified by his highly saturated color, his clear, structured drawing and the heroic scale of his paintings. The watercolors in this exhibition date from 2002 to 2014 and are Nickson’s experience of coming dawn or falling dusk in Spain, Italy, Colorado, Florida, or, most recently, Nantucket. Translated into watercolor, the intensity of the experience is conveyed through the strong, flag-like composition, often interrupted by a house, window, or figure, and through the high pitch of the color.

Nickson was born in Lancashire, England, and completed his studies at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (BA) and the Royal College of Art in London (MA) in 1972. He has worked, traveled, and exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad. Nickson has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Prix de Rome (1972–74), The Harkness Fellowship at Yale University (1976–78), the Guggenheim Fellowship (1989), and the Ingram Merrill Fellowship (1993). Recent solo exhibitions include Graham Nickson: Private Myths at the Naples Museum of Art, FL (2007), Graham Nickson: Works from Private Collections at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, FL (2006), and Meeting and Passing at the Lillehammer Art Museum in Norway (2007). His work can be seen in a host of public and private collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, Boston, MA; The Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY; the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY; the Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA; the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL; and the Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, Lillehammer, Norway. He has been a faculty member and Dean of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture since 1988. The artist currently lives and works in New York City.

The exhibition, which is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, will remain on view through May 22, 2015.