Wood, Christopher, 1901-1930

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Christopher Wood was born in Knowsley, near Liverpool on 7 April 1901, the son of Mrs Clare and Dr Lucius Wood, a GP. At fourteen, Wood began to draw during recuperation from septicaemia, and went on to study architecture briefly at Liverpool University, 1919-20. In London in 1920, the French collector Alphonse Kahn invited him to Paris, where Wood studied painting at the Academie Julian in 1921. He entered effortlessly into artistic circles, meeting Augustus John and the Chilean diplomat Antonio de Gandarillas, with whom he began to live. As well as providing financial support, Gandarillas introduced Wood to Picasso, Georges Auric and Jean Cocteau, and to the use of opium. Wood became a member of the London Group in 1926 and the Seven and Five Society between 1926-30. He exhibited with Ben and Winifred Nicholson at the Beaux Arts Gallery during April-May 1927, and became close to them personally and artistically. Winifred in particular was supportive in the aftermath of his failed elopement with the painter and heiress Meraud Guinness (subsequently Meraud Guevara). He painted with the Nicholsons at their home 'Banks Head' in Cumberland and in Cornwall in 1928. On a trip to St Ives, he and Ben Nicholson encountered the fisherman painter Alfred Wallis, whose work answered a shared interest in 'primitive' expression and helped Wood to establish a personal style. By this time he was in a close personal relationship with the Russian emigre, Frosca Munster, who accompanied him on his subsequent painting trips to Brittany.His solo exhibition at Tooth's Gallery in April 1929, was followed by an exhibition with Nicholson at the Galerie Bernheim in Paris, May 1930, in which Wood showed paintings made in Brittany in 1929. The results of a second stay in Brittany during June-July 1930, were intended to be shown at the Wertheim Gallery, London in October. Travelling with his paintings, Wood met his mother in Salisbury on 21 August 1930. Possibly believing himself pursued (an effect of withdrawal from opium), he threw himself under the London train and was killed.

From the guide to the Photocopied correspondence from or concerning Christopher 'Kit' Wood, and eleven photographs of his paintings, 1921-1977, (Tate Gallery Archive GB 70)

Christopher 'Kit' Wood was born in 1901. He was educated at Marlborough College and studied architecture at Liverpool University. In 1921 he enrolled at the Academie Julian in Paris, then at the Grande Chaumire. He met a number of European artists, including Jean Cocteau (with whom he shared a studio) and Picasso, whilst in Paris and during visits to Europe and north Africa. In 1926 he met Ben and Winifred Nicholson in London and stayed with them in Cornwall, where he and Ben Nicholson discovered the work of the naive painter Alfred Wallis (in 1928). A member of the Seven and Five Society, he also exhibited with the London Group. His best work was completed in Brittany in the final two years of his life. He was killed by a train at Salisbury railway station in 1930. Frosca Munster, a Russian emigre, met Wood in Paris in 1928. They began a relationship and she stayed with him and the Nicholsons in Cornwall.

The first monograph on Wood was Eric Newton's 'Christopher Wood, 1901-30' (1938). The most recent biography is Richard Ingleby's 'Christopher Wood: An English Painter' (1995).

From the guide to the Letters, papers, artworks, photographs and press cuttings on the painter (John) Christopher Wood, 1927-1959, (Tate Gallery Archive GB 70)

Relation Name
associatedWith Arthur Tooth & Sons Limited London corporateBody
associatedWith Dacre Winifred person
associatedWith Dacre Winifred person
associatedWith Diaghileff Sergei person
associatedWith Gandarillas Tony person
associatedWith Gandarillas Tony person
associatedWith Guiness, Meraud person
associatedWith Harold Stanley 'Jim' Ede person
associatedWith Lefevre Galleries London corporateBody
associatedWith Le Roy Mrs Jacques person
associatedWith Munster, Frosca person
associatedWith Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Nicholson, Ben person
associatedWith Nicholson, Winifred person
associatedWith The London Group corporateBody
associatedWith The Seven and Five Society corporateBody
associatedWith University of Cambridge, Kettle's Yard corporateBody
associatedWith Wallis, Alfred person
associatedWith Wood, Christopher person
associatedWith Wood Kit person
associatedWith Wood Kit person
Place Name Admin Code Country
St Ives, Cornwall, UK
Treboul, France
Brittany, France
Subject
Art
Art, British
Artists
Arts
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1901-04-07

Death 1930-08-21

Britons

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