The Scottish Colourists - early 20th-century artists
The Scottish Colourists were a group of four Scottish painters active in the first 30 years of the 20th century: Francis Cadell, John Duncan Fergusson, Leslie Hunter and Samuel Peploe.
The artists have been perceived as a unified group under the 'Scottish Colourists' label, suggesting an artistic unity of purpose, though this is somewhat misleading.
The term 'Scottish Colourists' was actually first coined in the late 1940s, some years after three of the leading artists had died. The relationship between the artists themselves was often tumultuous, and somewhat tenuous; and their artistic approaches were diverse. Despite their individual qualities, they did have a degree of commonality in their use of impressionistic use of colour.
The four were all born in the 1870's into middle-class Scottish families. It was a decade in which artistic activity in Scotland was thriving and Glasgow was growing in importance as an artistic centre in its own right. The Colourists were all influenced by French painters such as Matisse, Cezanne and Manet, but although these influences subtly shaped their works, they remained true to their Scottish artistic heritage. Their subject matter is often considered conservative compared to their French counterparts, since a lot of their works consist of island landscapes, Edinburgh interiors and fashion models.
The Colourists were at first not particularly recognised for their output. But there has been an eventual acknowledgement of their influence on contemporary Scottish culture - with various exhibitions held in the UK in recent years. For example, most recently, The Lightbox gallery in Woking has presented over 40 paintings and drawings from them, displaying favoured subjects of the four artists. The exhibition also included sketchbooks and notebooks by each of the artists.
Our picture is a detail from Ben More from Iona, by Samuel John Peploe (1871-1935). The painting, oil on canvas, is in the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow.
Further reading
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