The life and times of Sir William Nicholson

February 5, 1872 Born in Newarkon-trent, Nottinghamshire

1894 Produces the first of his J. & W. Beggarstaff posters, for a production of Hamlet

1896 His woodcut of the Prince of Wales’s Classic-winning Thoroughbred Persimmon is seen and admired by his chief influence, James Whistler, when exhibited by the Fine Art Society

1901 Paints the first of his major portraits, W. E. Henley, editor of the New Review, which had published Sir William’s Diamond Jubilee picture of Queen Victoria. Henley was a notable champion of Whistler and the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Long John Silver in Treasure Island

1909 Buys the Old Vicarage in Rottingdean, East Sussex

1917 Establishes studio-residence at Apple Tree Yard in London’s St James’s, a major creational hub. The convivial Sir William was known to paint on even when surrounded by a constant stream of visitors

1922 Illustrates W. H. Davies’s The Hour of Magic

1926 Turns down membership of the Royal Academy

1934 Meets Sir Winston Churchill and becomes a trustee of Tate Gallery

1940 With his health in decline, leaves Apple Tree Yard for Wiltshire, to escape the wartime bombing raids

May 16, 1949 Dies aged 77