The artist daughter of two of the Titans of Modern British Art. At her first London exhibition in June 1980, Rachel's father Ben Nicholson, commented on one picture, Still Life on Navy Blue, 1979: 'I never realised she could paint so well. I would have been happy to have painted that one myself'.
With the daunting heritage on her father's side of two generations of Nicholson artists, and as the daughter of Barbara Hepworth, a sculptor described as the most important female artist in history, Rachel soon grew to create a distinctive style of her own and has seen her artistic reputation become increasingly her own.
Despite growing up in a creative environment, it wasn’t until relatively later in life, when her youngest child started school, that Nicholson began to paint at the age of 41. At first she painted still life compositions, developing over the years into a range of landscape images ranging from Cumbria, Derbyshire and Cornwall. Her first solo exhibition was held in 1979 at the Field Gallery, Nottingham. This was followed in 1980, by her first solo London exhibition, at the Montpelier Studio, where she continued to exhibit for the next 20 years.
She has exhibited at numerous prestigious public and private galleries, including Beaux Arts Bath, Crane Kalman (The Nicholsons) and Tate St Ives.