An Alphabet: B is for Beggar (1897): Art, History and Details

An Alphabet: B is for Beggar (1897) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is William Nicholson (British, 1872–1949).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Nicholson, like so many European and American artists at the time, was influenced by the nontraditional aspects of Japanese art. As in ukiyo-e, Japanese color woodcuts, Nicholson used a limited color scheme and simplified forms, silhouetting his subjects on solid backgrounds that flatten space. An Alphabet was the first of several sets of prints Nicholson made for the publisher William Heinemann, who was not solely motivated by profit; he found books a source of intellectual pleasure and, as a cultured man with cosmopolitan tastes, appreciated Nicholson’s bold and witty designs. Nicholson cut woodblocks for the images that were first issued in a small edition of hand-colored woodcuts. The designs were then published in large editions as color lithographs.

Object facts

• Title: An Alphabet: B is for Beggar
• Date: 1897
• Creator attribution: William Nicholson (British, 1872–1949)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: color lithograph
• Dimensions: Sheet: 30.7 x 24 cm (12 1/16 x 9 7/16 in.); Image: 24.6 x 19.9 cm (9 11/16 x 7 13/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Woodcut
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2010.628

Collection credit

Gift of John Bonebrake

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.