Letters from Christopher 'Kit' Wood to his mother, 1926

1926 was the year of Wood's first exhibition, shared with Paul Nash at the Redfern Gallery. He also met Ben and Winifred Nicholson, who were to be a major influence over the remaining years of his life, and among his closest friends. However, despite Wood's improved commercial success and recognition, after much prevarication, Diaghilev finally rejected his designs for the Ballet in favour of the more fashionable surrealists Joan Miro and Max Ernst, although by this time Wood's attitude had become rather ambivalent. Picasso saw his paintings (2 Feb), and his admiration and recognition were reassuring to Wood. Letters written from: Paris, Monte Carlo, Lacondamine, Chelsea, Penzance, and St. Ives.