Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscapes, and still-life.

He trained as an artist in London at the Slade School of Fine Art between 1910 and 1911, where he was a contemporary of Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Mark Gertler, and Edward Wadsworth.

According to Nash, with whom he formed a close friendship, Nicholson spent more time during his year at the Slade playing billiards than painting or drawing, since the abstract formality of the green baize and the constantly changing relationships of the balls were, he later claimed, of more appeal to his aesthetic sense.

His first marriage was to the painter Winifred Roberts; it took place on 5 November 1920 at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, London.

Nicholson's first notable work was following a meeting with the playwright J. M. Barrie on holiday in Rustington, Sussex, in 1904.

As a result of this meeting, Barrie used a drawing by Nicholson as the base for a poster for the play Peter Pan; his father William designed some of the sets and costumes.

He believed that abstract art should be enjoyed by the general public, as shown by the Nicholson Wall, a mural he created for the garden of Sutton Place in Guildford, Surrey.

He won the prestigious Carnegie Prize in 1952 and in 1955 a retrospective exhibition of his work was shown at the Tate Gallery in London.

[5] The highest price reached by one of his paintings in the art market was when April 57 (Arbia 2) (1957) sold for £3,749,000 (c. $4,659,407) at Christie's London, on 23 November 2016.