Christopher Wood

CHRISTOPHER WOOD

Knowsley 1901 - 1930 Salisbury

Christopher Wood was born on 7th April 1901, the first child of the physician, Lucius Wood, and his wife Clare Arthur. He studied architecture briefly at Liverpool University, before travelling to Paris in 1921 at the invitation of Alphonse Kahn, where he studied at the Académie Julian and the Grande Chaumière. Wood met the Chilean Diplomat, Antonio de Gandarillas that summer and became part of his glamorous social circle, frequently travelling and living together. It was most likely through Gandarillas that Wood met and was encouraged by, Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau. In 1926 he met Ben and Winifred Nicholson, with whom he became close friends. At their introduction, he became a member of the Seven and Five Society from 1927–29. Wood stayed with the Nicholsons in Cumbria and Cornwall in 1928, where they met and were inspired by Alfred Wallis. Kit held his first one-man exhibition in London at Arthur Tooth & Sons in April 1929 and the following year exhibited with Ben Nicholson at the Galerie Bernheim in Paris. Having become addicted to opium, Wood died at the age of 29 in a confused state, falling under a train at Salisbury station. The Redfern Gallery staged a comprehensive retrospective of his work in 1938; a selection of his paintings were exhibited at the Venice Biennale that same year.

The work of Christopher Wood is represented in many public collections including the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottowa; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Brighton & Hove Museums; Bristol Museum and Art Gallery; Falmouth Art Gallery; Manchester City Art Gallery; the National Portrait Gallery, London; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester; Southampton City Art Gallery; Tate Gallery, London; Tyne & Wear Museums and Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge.