Mrs Nicholson is now one of the most sought after Modern British painters in today's art market.
Her delicate still lifes have always been considered attractive, but now they are also seen as highly commercial, being exactly what today's buyers like to decorate their walls.
Her rise to prominence can be dated back to January 2002 when, at Lawrence's, Crewkerne, her late 1920s oil and pencil half-length portrait of Ben sold at £100,000.
There followed a succession of successes. March 2002: Majorca Flowers, 1955, 20in x 2ft 1in (52 x 63cm), £42,000 at Cheffins, Cambridge.
Hellibore and Hyacinth, oil on board, 2ft 3/4in x 2ft 6 1/4in (63 x 77cm), £36,000 at Bonhams, London. June 2004: Pike Hill, 1972, oil on canvas, 20 x 30in (51 x 76cm) and Aegean Coast Line, oil on panel, 15 x 27in (37 x 68cm), £26,000 and £15,000 respectively at Christie's, London.
Most recently, on December 6 last year at the Carlisle sale held by H&H King (12.5% buyer's premium), came this 1967 unsigned oil and pastel on paper Nest of Rock Roses, right. In a card-mounted frame under glass, the 15 x 22in (56 x 37.5cm) breezy still life was consigned by a vendor who had bought it at £8000 when Bath auctioneers Aldridges offered the estate of the late naval historian David R. MacGregor in March last year. It was a shrewd buy for, even after all the vendor's commission and premiums, it showed a profit of more than £5000 when it sold in Carlisle at £17,500.
