Scottish Colourists paintings set for £1.5m sale

JD Fergusson in his Clouston Street studio, Glasgow. Picture: Contributed

The paintings, described as “one of the most important groups of works to come to the market for many years”, will be sold at Christie’s Sale of Modern British and Irish Art in London.

The Scottish Colourists, whose post-impressionist work came to have a formative influence on contemporary Scottish art and culture, exhibited in the 1920s and 1930s.

The group, Samuel Peploe, George Leslie Hunter, JD Fergusson and Francis Cadell, followed separate careers and developed their work at different rates.

An exhibition of JD Fergusson's work at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art last year. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The most expensive work to go under the hammer at the evening sale on June 25th is Peploe’s, “Dish with apples, Ginger jar, brown crock, bottle and chair”, was painted in 1918. It is expected to fetch between £300,00 and £500,000.

Experts at Christie’s said the work was painted during what was arguably the most accomplished period of Peploe’s career, when the influence of the artist Cezanne was particularly apparent in his work.

A painting expert at Christie’s said today: “The artist’s meticulous preparation, boldness and use of block colour, is particularly notable in the present work - a tour de-force of still-life painting which exemplifies Peploe at his very best.

“The Ginger Jar was painted around 1918, it has an expressive energy of both brushwork and palette that had been encouraged by both Peploe’s residence in Paris and his ongoing visits to the South of France.”

“Cassis”, another of Peploe’s pieces will also go under the hammer and is expected to be sold for between £120,000 and £180,000.

Also due to go on sale is Peploe’s 1920s work “White Sands, Iona”, Francis Caddell’s still life, Pink Tulips in a Blue Jar, and his “Anemones in Vase with Green Book”.

George Leslie Hunter’s “Pink roses, red curtain in background, green melon and jade necklace”, and “On The Road to the Isles” by John Duncan Fergusson that will feature in the auction.

Alex Deyzac, a spokesperson for Christie’s said: “This group of Scottish Colourists works are one of the most important groups of work to come to the market for years.”