Mabel Pryde Nicholson Biography

Mabel Scott Lauder Pryde Nicholson (1871-1918) was a Scottish artist, the wife of artist William Nicholson, and the mother of artists Ben Nicholson and Nancy Nicholson and the architect Christopher Nicholson.

She was the daughter of David Pryde, headmaster of Edinburgh Ladies College 1870-1891, and Barbara Lauder, whose father William was a brother of the famous Scottish artists Robert Scott Lauder and James Eckford Lauder. Mabel had one brother, the artist James Pryde. As children, they lived at 10 Fettes Row, a north-facing Edinburgh house.

Pryde trained at the Bushey School of Art in Hertfordshire under the tutelage of Hubert von Herkomer. Here she met fellow student William Nicholson, whom she married in 1893. She introduced Nicholson to her brother James and all three moved to the Eight Bells, a former pub in Denham, in Buckinghamshire.

Pryde and Nicholson had four children: Ben (1894-1982); Anthony (1897-1918), killed in action during the First World War; Annie Mary "Nancy" (1899-1978); and Christopher "Kit" (1904-1948). They moved to Rottingdean in 1909. 

Pryde exhibited under her married name in several group shows in London, culminating in a solo show at the Chenil Gallery in 1912. 

In July 1918, Pryde died from influenza during the 1918 flu pandemic.

Her work is included in the collections of the Tate Museum, London, and the National Galleries of Scotland. In addition, there was an exhibition of her work at her former home, The Grange, Rottingdean, in 2024.