Genre Painter, Still life painter, Landscape painter, Painter, Flower painter, b. 1871 - d. 1935
(b Edinburgh, Scotland 1871; d Edinburgh 1935) Scottish painter. Samuel John Peploe painted a series of still life subjects dating from 1919, remarkable for their bright colouring, bold compositions and redolent of modernism. Peploe had used colour at its highest pitch since his return to Scotland from a period in France in 1913. By this period, Peploe was an established artist with a fully rounded sense of his artistic aims. His reputation was affirmed by his election to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1917 and by highly successful exhibitions at Aitken Dott & Sons in Edinburgh. The connection between the work of Peploe and [Scottish painter Francis] Cadell was particularly strong at this time and although the artists did not share a studio on a permanent basis, it is likely that Peploe used Cadell's studio on occasion. It is likely that Peploe kept Cadell informed of artistic advances in France and that the influence of the Fauves upon the two artists work was predominantly generated by Peploe's enthusiasm for the art he had seen in Paris in the earlier years of the decade. Peploe favoured depicting tulips, roses, and lilies with a unique sense of energy and vigour which can only be observed in the very finest Colourist works and which owe so much to Henri Matisse, André Derain and other artists working in the Fauvist circle. (Credit: Sotheby’s, London, Scottish Pictures, April 29, 2009, Lot 68).
Samuel John Peploe RSA (British, 1871-1935) North Berwick signed in pencil 'Peploe' (lower right), signed and inscribed 'North Berwick/S J Peploe' (verso) oil on panel 15.9 x 23.6cm (6 1/4 x 9 5/16in).
An antique English, Scottish still life oil painting on board by Samuel John Peploe, 1871 to 1935. The fine painting depicts still life with fruit in a vase and coffee pot. Signed lower left. Framed. Samuel John Peploe was a Scottish Post Impressionist painter, noted for his still life works and for being one of the group of four painters that became known as the Scottish Colourists. Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery holds the largest collection of Peploes paintings aside from the National Galleries of Scotland. Samuel John Peploe is one of Scotlands most valuable artists. One of a kind artwork.
Samuel John Peploe 1871 - 1935 Pink Rose in a Glass Vase with Fruit signed Peploe (lower right) oil on canvas unframed: 46 by 40.5cm.; 18 by 16in. framed: 64.5 by 59.5cm.; 28¼ by 25in. Executed circa 1925. We are grateful to Guy Peploe for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.
Property from the Family of the Artist Samuel John Peploe 1871 - 1935 The Harbour, Cassis signed Peploe (lower right) oil on board unframed: 32.5 by 41cm.; 12¾ by 16in. framed: 47.5 by 56.5cm.; 18¾ by 22¼in. Executed in 1913. We would like to thank Guy Peploe for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.
Property of an Important Family Collection Samuel John Peploe 1871 - 1935 Still Life with a Benedictine Bottle and Fruit signed Peploe (lower right) oil on canvas unframed: 54.5 by 45.5cm.; 21½ by 18in. framed: 71 by 63cm.; 28 by 24¾in. Executed circa 1918 - 1925. We would like to thank Guy Peploe for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) WOODED LANDSCAPE Oil on canvas 51cm x 71cm (20in x 28in) Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd, London;Sotheby's Gleneagles, Scottish and Sporting Paintings, Drawings and Watercolours, 28 August 1984, Lot 964 Peploe enjoyed a practice based on working en plein air as well as in a studio. Trees, forests and woods are a mainstay subject of the former strand in his oeuvre and he was drawn to them in locations as varied as Antibes, Cassis, Kirkcudbrightshire and the Scottish Highlands.From the exploration of Sisley and Pissarro in Spring, Comrie of c.1902 (Kirkcaldy Museum & Art Gallery), to the post-impressionism of Landscape at Cassis, 1924 (National Galleries of Scotland) and the looser, broader River of c.1932 (Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums), the expressive potential of trees, their trunks, branches and leaves, whether singular or growing in groups, provided Peploe with an endless variety of form and character with which to connect with nature and to establish a sense of place. The weather on his beloved Iona is too windy to permit the growth of trees.Somewhat ironically, it was the green light reflected into his Queen Street studio in Edinburgh from the trees across the road that prompted Peploe to move studio in 1917 to 54 Shandwick Place. This was to prove his studio of longest standing and he remained there until 1934. Yet it was during the 1920s that his landscape painting developed apace. As Alice Strang has written:“During the 1920s and early 1930s, Peploe found inspiration in the Scottish landscape of Dumfries and Galloway, Perthshire and Inverness-shire. He returned to Kirkcudbright and painted in Douglas Hall and New Abbey as well. Calvine and St Fillans drew him northwards, whilst the final and most northerly places that he painted were Boat of Garten and Rothiemurchus, where he painted his last picture. Peploe’s interest in trees as subject matter became increasingly pronounced.” (Alice Strang et al, S. J. Peploe, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2012, p. 24)Wooded Landscape reveals Peploe’s mastery of oil paint in portraying a sense of natural beauty, embodied by the trees thriving under sunlight, their features, as well as those of the ground and sky, realised in rigorous, unhesitating brushstrokes. The fall of light, through varying degrees of vegetation, and creating dark shadows that heighten the contrast with the brightness elsewhere, results in an inviting scene into which the viewer is encouraged to enter. Such was the regard for Peploe’s landscapes that his work, La forét, a view of trees in Cassis, was acquired for the French national collection in 1931.
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) PINK ROSES IN A BLUE AND WHITE VASE Signed, oil on canvas and verso with Still Life with Fruit and Flowers 56cm x 51cm (22in x 20in) Acquired by the father of the present owner Pink Roses in a Blue and White Vase is a quintessential still life painting of the mid to late 1920s by S. J. Peploe and, what is more, it bears the later work Still Life with Fruit and Flowers on its verso. In his still lifes of the 1920s, Peploe brought to bear all the experience he had gained in the genre as an emerging artist in Edinburgh before the war, his experimentation in pre-war Paris and the development of his practice during the conflict. Peploe’s exploration of the work of artists, from Edouard Manet to Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne, were combined with his own innovation in a significant series of works which spanned the decade.Peploe found endless inspiration in favoured still life props, such as the blue-and-white Chinese porcelain vase, informally arranged roses and white drapery seen here. Using an elevated viewpoint and corner positioning, Peploe weights the composition to the left, whilst the roses entering from the right suggest the space beyond the confines of the canvas. The precision of his earlier efforts in the genre has given way to the looser, more expressive technique of the period. Detail is implied rather than specifically rendered, such as in the patterning of the vase and dish. Confidently applied brushstrokes are drawn across the texture of the support, layering rather than blending colours in passages which verge on the abstract, especially in the background. A more gentle palette than that used in previous years sees a harmonious blend of mid-tone pink, blue, yellow and brown. The overall effect is one of a relaxed and confident master at work.The later Still Life with Fruit and Flowers shows how Peploe maintained his fascination with the still life genre into the 1930s. New, more rustic, props were introduced, such as the earthenware vase featured here. Fruit and flowers continue to bring bright colour and compositional high notes to the image, whilst a strong use of black to outline form can be related to contemporary works by his friend and fellow Scottish Colourist, F. C. B. Cadell.The current work takes us from the 1920s into the 1930s, following Peploe as his reputation and stature grew. Acquisitions of his work were made by several public collections, including for Manchester and Aberdeen Art Galleries. His work was shown in a group exhibition alongside Cadell, Fergusson, Hunter and others in Paris in 1931, from which one of his paintings was acquired for the French national collection. It is little wonder that, following his death in Edinburgh in 1935, David Foggie described him in The Scotsman as “one of the most interesting and inspiring of Scottish painters..one of the few whose works were highly esteemed not only in Scotland, but in England and abroad.” (David Foggie, ‘Peploe’s Art: A Scotsman under French Influence’, The Scotsman, 14 October 1935)
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) STILL LIFE WITH FRUIT AND FLOWERS Signed, oil on canvas 46cm x 41cm (18in x 16in) Ian MacNicol, Glasgow Exhibited: McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by S .J. Peploe RSA, February 1937 Still Life with Fruit and Flowers is an exceptional painting: it was created when Peploe was working most closely with his friend and fellow Scottish Colourist F. C. B. Cadell, and is in the still life genre for which he is most celebrated. Its stunning palette, cropped and asymmetrical composition, and frank technique mean that it encapsulates the ‘modern’ in modern Scottish art. It is on such bold works that Peploe’s leading reputation within twentieth-century art history is based.Peploe and Cadell had met in Edinburgh by 1909 and both received their second solo exhibitions at The Scottish Gallery in the capital the following year. They stayed in touch during Peploe’s sojourn in Paris from 1910 until 1912 and whilst Cadell saw active service during World War One. Following his demobilisation in 1919, Cadell moved to 6 Ainslie Place in Edinburgh’s New Town, a few minutes’ walk from Peploe’s home at 13 India Street and studio at 54 Shandwick Place.The artists’ friendship intensified and their working relationship became closer. Still Life with Fruit and Flowers shows how they even shared a taste for props, such as the orange-rimmed plate, be-ribboned black fan and blue-glazed jug, the likes of which also appeared in Cadell’s contemporary paintings. The stunning lilac background which is such a feature of the present work is surely a direct reference to the colour with which Cadell painted the first floor at Ainslie Place. As T. J. Honeyman recorded: “Cadell’s studio was about the only one S. J. [sic] ever visited. They often criticised each other’s work, suggesting an improvement here and there, counselling eliminations of some passage or advising a fresh attempt.” (T. J. Honeyman, Three Scottish Colourists, London, 1950, p.66)The still life genre was of the utmost important to Peploe throughout his career. He first emerged as an artist of importance at his inaugural solo exhibition in 1903 with a series of still lifes realised in thick, creamy paint, set before a dark background and full of implied narratives of a sophisticated lifestyle. The time he spent in Paris before the War changed his work dramatically, as he submerged himself in the very latest developments in French art, from Cubism to Fauvism. With a medical exemption from war service, Peploe used the years of the conflict for development and exploration, including of the work of Paul Cézanne.Elizabeth Cumming has explained the importance of Peploe’s post-war still lifes, writing:“The end of the war seems to have spurred him to embark on a new series of brightly coloured flower paintings, integrating his unapologetic new academicism with his confidence of colour. The result spelt modernity. Despite his increasing fascination with Cézanne, Peploe was remaining loyal to the decorative values set out by Matisse…Such carefully orchestrated blasts of colour were extraordinary…As [the collector Ion] Harrison recalled thirty years later ‘I had never seen anything in art similar to these pictures and I did not understand them. They really startled me for, to my eyes, they were so ultra-modern.’” (Elizabeth Cumming, ‘Exploring the Poetics of Form: the Post-war Paintings of S. J. Peploe’ in Alice Strang et al, S. J. Peploe, National Galleries of Edinburgh, 2012, p.68)Peploe’s paintstaking working process, by which he would arrange and re-arrange his props for sometimes days on end, resulted in the perfect pitch of inter-relationships between form and colour seen in Still Life with Fruit and Flowers. The focal point of the loosely arranged flowers in the jug makes the most of the yellow and red of the flowerheads, and their profiles, against the lilac background. The rounded form of the jug, in whose surface the windows behind the artist are reflected, anchors the composition. The cropping and overlaying of elements, from fruit on the left, to the run of bowl to plate and jug, provides rhythmic stops and fluid sightlines over the image. Peploe’s enjoyment of realising curved volume is clear in the apples in the foreground, whilst the light entering the scene from the lower left casts deftly rendered shadows that lead the eye to the right and beyond the canvas. Still Life with Fruit and Flowers can be considered the triumphant result of some twenty years of dedication and courageous experimentation in the genre, about which Peploe was to declare in 1929: “There is so much in mere objects, flowers, leaves, jugs, what not – colours, forms, relation – I can never see mystery coming to an end.” (quoted in Stanley Cursiter, Peploe: An Intimate Memoir of an Artist and of his Work, Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, Edinburgh, 1947, p.73). It was selected for inclusion in the memorial exhibition of Peploe’s work mounted at the McLellan Galleries, Glasgow in 1937, following the artist’s death in Edinburgh in 1935.
‡ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE (SCOTTISH 1871-1935)CASSIS, LOOKING INLANDOil on panelSigned (lower left)32 x 41cm (12½ x 16 in.)Painted circa 1913.Provenance:Lefevre Gallery, LondonAcquired from the above circa 1950 and thence by descent to the present ownerPeploe had firmly established himself on the Scottish art scene in the early years of the twentieth century with his traditional Edwardian style of painting. He found success with a series of carefully observed interiors, still lives, portraits and landscapes. However, regular trips to northern France and Paris from the mid-1900s saw him come into contact with the likes of Matisse and Picasso and the latest artistic trends that avant garde Paris had to offer. He began to adopt a bolder, more vibrant palette, influenced by the art of Vincent Van Gogh, the Fauves and their raw expressionism, he pared down his compositions to the barest, yet most striking elements - the black line contrasted with the brightest, richest colours. This new department was not approved of by his usual Edinburgh dealers who refused to exhibit Peploe's new paintings on his return in 1912. It was one year later that Peploe visited the bustling harbour town of Cassis in the south of France. It was to be the first of many trips and prove instrumental in the development of the artist's mature style. Like so many before and after him, Peploe was enraptured by the iridescent light of the region, the sparkling seas and sun-drenched hills. The colourist journey begun by the Fauves ten years earlier now encompassed a new group of painters who would go on to be known collectively as the Scottish Colourists. This tight-knit group comprised Peploe along with Francis Cadell, Leslie Hunter and J.D. Fergusson and they were Scotland's first Modernists.The present work was most probably painted during Peploe's first trip to Cassis in the summer of 1913. He had been invited by J.D. Fergusson and the American artist and illustrator Anne Estelle Rice. Whilst he produced many views of the port at Cassis, he was also fascinated by the area around the town with its wooded hills and jumble of typically Mediterranean tiled houses. Cassis Looking Inland is one such example with the salmon pink rooftops juxtaposed by lemon-yellow highlights and Peploe's quintessential bold black outlines.
Samuel John Peploe (1871 - 1935) A view of Iona Signed lower left 1919 (?) Oil on softwood panel Provenance: Artist's family; given by People's widow to her son Willy (with label and inscription verso) Cloe Peploe (Willy's daughter); and by descent to the owner Dimensions: (Canvas) 13 in. (H) x 16 in. (W)
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) LUXEMBOURG GARDENS, PARIS Signed, oil on board (26cm x 21cm (10.25in x 8.25in)) Provenance: The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, where purchased by Ion R. Harrison and thence by descent to the present owner Exhibited: The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Paintings and Drawings by S. J. Peploe RSA, 18 August - 13 September 1947, no.68 (as 'Paris') McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, Pictures from a Private Collection, 2 - 27 March 1951, no.15 (as 'Luxembourg Gardens with Figure') Luxembourg Gardens, Paris reveals Peploe’s love of the French capital, which began as a student attending the Académie Julian in the 1890s, continued whilst a resident between 1910 and 1912 and was the location of inter-war group exhibitions which resulted in the acquisition of the paintings Paysage – Iona and La Forêt for the French national collection in 1924 and 1931. As Frances Fowle has explained: ‘Peploe had a lifelong love of France…we can tell from Peploe’s letters that in his own mind he associated France and the French with creativity, openness and flair…Peploe firmly believed that France somehow unlocked the creative, expressive side of his temperament. Above all, he adored Paris.’ (Frances Fowle, ‘Peploe in France: A Suitable Milieu’ in Alice Strang et al, S. J. Peploe, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2012, p.43) This image of Paris’s celebrated Jardin du Luxembourg encapsulates the affection Peploe felt for the city, its chic citizens, sophisticated lifestyle and outstanding beauty. In a sun-dappled leisurely scene, an elegant lady is observed strolling along a path, surrounded by trees and carefully cultivated plants. The free application of paint, by way of a thickly-loaded brush, expresses areas of indicative form, shadow and perspective. A palette of mainly unmixed colours is based on tones of green and brown, with highlights of colour used to pick out the flowers and to provide structure when used in single, defining brushstrokes. Luxembourg Gardens, Paris is painted on an intimate scale, on a board which was easy to transport and to use whilst working en plein air. This approach allowed for an immediacy and freshness of response to subject matter which Peploe was to maintain to the end of his career. It was acquired by the celebrated collector of the Scottish Colourists’ work, the Glasgow ship-owner Ion Harrison. In 1950 he recalled ‘It was through Cadell that I first met Peploe and it was when Cadell was starting to paint a portrait of my wife that Peploe joined us at Croft House for a weekend. This was a very great privilege for us, for Peploe did not care for visiting people unless he knew them very well. It was a very happy weekend indeed and Peploe was pleased to see his pictures hanging together in their surroundings.I held him in great esteem and regarded him as a very great artist.’ (Ion Harrison, ‘As I Remember Them’ in T. J. Honeyman, Three Scottish Colourists: Peploe, Cadell, Hunter, Faber and Faber Ltd, London, 1950, p.123)
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) STILL LIFE WITH TULIPS Signed, oil on canvas (51cm x 51cm (20in x 20in)) Provenance: Mr & Mrs John B. Rankin Private Collection Scotland Exhibited: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, S. J. Peploe 1871-1935, 26 June - 8 September 1985, no.78 Still Life with Tulips is a remarkable painting by Samuel John Peploe, in which he brought to bear the Edwardian sophistication of the work with which he made his professional name in turn-of-the-century Edinburgh, the lessons he learnt at the heart of the Parisian art world before World War One and the progress he made during the conflict from which he emerged as a Scottish master of modern art. In an image of striking design, which remains as arresting now as when it was painted, Peploe set up his still-life arrangement in front of a sheer black background. This shows the silhouettes and bright colours of the cloth-covered table, glass vase and tulips to the greatest possible effect. He had used this approach in a celebrated series of still lifes painted in the early 1900s, such as Coffee and Liqueur (Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, acc.no.35.586), Peonies (National Galleries of Scotland, acc.no. GMA 1946) and Still Life (Edinburgh Museums and Galleries, acc.no.CAC4/1964), in which Peploe paid his respects to Dutch Old Masters such as Frans Hals and to Eduoard Manet. Paintings such as these proved extremely popular when included in solo and group exhibitions in Edinburgh and London of the period, establishing Peploe as an artist of note and accomplishment. Encouraged by his friend and fellow Scottish Colourist, John Duncan Fergusson, Peploe spent two key years in Paris from 1910 until 1912. He was welcomed into Fergusson’s avant-garde Anglo-American circle of friends, the Rhythmists, and immersed himself in the very latest developments in French painting, experienced at first hand. Such was the pace of his development that he was elected a sociétaire of the cutting-edge Salon d’Automne in recognition of his contribution to the modern movement. His paintings became bolder in technique, colour and design, their progressive nature quite unlike anything that had been created, or seen, in the Edinburgh art world to which he returned two years later. Declared medically unfit for service during World War One, Peploe used the period for continuing experimentation, when canvas and paints could be sourced. Rich colour, spatial compression and a strong structure became the foundation of his still lifes, with furrowed brushstrokes and pronounced outlines coming to the fore. In 1917, he moved studio to 54 Shandwick Place in Edinburgh, where he was to remain until 1934. The following year, his election as an Associate member of the Royal Scottish Academy secured his place within the Scottish art establishment. As Alice Strang has written ‘The still lifes which Peploe painted during the period between approximately 1918 and 1923 are the works for which he is best known…Peploe changed his technique, adopting an absorbent gesso ground and reducing the amount of medium in his paint. He pushed his use of colour to the extreme and obsessively arranged objects – such as blue-and-white Chinese porcelain vases, filled initially with tulips and then usually with roses; fans; books; fruit in a variety of dishes…to create finely balanced compositions.’ (Alice Strang et al, S. J. Peploe, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2012, p.23) Still Life with Tulips dates from this exceptional immediate post-war period, before Peploe settled into the rose still lifes which he painted, exhibited and sold in great numbers during the 1920s. During this period he worked particularly closely with his other fellow Scottish Colourist, F. C. B. Cadell and the two shared an interest in a style which was to become known as ‘Art Deco’ following the Exposition international des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes held in Paris in 1925. At this point, tulips were Peploe’s preferred flower, often bought from stalls on nearby Princes Street. His enjoyment of their strongly-coloured stems, leaves and heads comes to the fore in their balletic presentation here. Their reaching, curving and swooning qualities, in all directions, is played out in the very frontal plane of the image to the right and in an effusion of movement from the vase. The simplified forms of the boldly-coloured petals play against the black and white planes in front of which they are positioned. Throughout, Peploe plays with notions of the space beyond the canvas, with just the angled corner of the table included, whilst the cropped fan, red tulip above it and emerging tulips to the right allude to a continuation of the narrative beyond the viewer’s gaze. The realisation not only of the translucency of the water in the vase and the stems within it, but also its reflection of the space within which the artist was working, is a tour de force passage. Given the brilliance of his tulip still lifes, it is little surprise that his painting, Tulips, of 1923, was acquired for the British national collection in 1927 (Tate, acc.no. NO4224), the year in which Peploe attained the rank of full Member of the Royal Scottish Academy. His appointment was announced in the Glasgow Herald, which described him as ‘an artist of the new movement, Mr Peploe is outstanding in Scotland, and his work has received recognition in London and abroad as well as at home.’ (10 February 1927) Indeed, Peploe’s legacy is primarily based on his mastery of the still life genre, of which Still Life with Tulips is an exceptional example.
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) ROSES Signed, oil on canvasboard (17cm x 24cm (6.75in x 9.5in)) Provenance: Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd, Glasgow and London Major Blair 1927 Private Collection, Switzerland Exhibited: Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd, London, S. J. Peploe, December 1926 The Fine Art Society, London, Ten Paintings by S. J. Peploe, March 2010 S. J. Peploe's Roses of circa 1907 is a beautiful, intimate painting from a crucial period in his career when he and fellow Scottish Colourist John Duncan Fergusson were working closely together. Following the success of his first solo exhibition, held at the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh in 1903, Peploe moved studio to 32 York Place in the Scottish capital. Built in 1795 for the great Scottish portraitist Henry Raeburn, this spacious, north-lit studio prompted a new confidence in Peploe’s work. He began painting in a lighter key and employed a looser, freer technique. Professional success followed when the artist began his participation in London exhibitions in 1907. That same year, the Scottish Modern Arts Association purchased Still Life, circa 1906 (Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, No. CAC4/1964) – the first Peploe painting acquired for a public collection. The intimate scale, plein air paintings helped Peploe develop a new palette of subtle blue and grey tones, accented by brilliantly placed flashes of high colour, and provided rhythm and visual contrast to his compositions. His technique progressed apace, and he applied his medium with laden, spontaneous brushstrokes, which created a sense of energy and immediacy. This confidence and Peploe’s mastery of the still life genre is apparent in Roses – a jewel-like composition of favourite props. As the artist wrote in 1920: ‘There is so much in mere objects, flowers, leaves, jugs, what not – colours, forms, relation – I can never see mystery coming to an end.’ (as quoted in Stanley Cursiter, Peploe: An Intimate Memoir of the Artist and his Work, Edinburgh 1947, p. 73).
Samuel John Peploe, R.S.A. 1871 - 1935 Still Life with Ginger Jar signed Peploe (lower left) oil on canvas unframed: 45.5 by 54.5cm.; 18 by 21½in. framed: 68 by 77.5cm.; 26¾ by 30½in. Executed circa 1926.
Samuel John Peploe RSA (British, 1871-1935) Eilean Annraidh from the North End, Iona signed 'Peploe' (lower right) oil on board 37 x 44.5cm (14 9/16 x 17 1/2in).
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) STILL LIFE WITH ROSES Signed, oil on canvas (46cm x 40.5cm (18in x 16in)) Provenance: MacConnal-Mason & Son Ltd, London Note: In 1929, Peploe declared ‘There is so much in mere objects, flowers, leaves, jugs, what not – colours, forms, relation – I can never see mystery coming to an end.’ This reveals the inspiration he found in the still life genre throughout his distinguished career, as can be seen in Still Life with Roses. As Roger Billcliffe has explained: Peploe set himself as a target the perfect still-life painting…His temperament made him ideally suited to the task. His calm reasoning and thoughtful manner enabled him to make a careful analysis of the problems which face the still-life painter and he set about resolving them in a series of works which includes many of his most satisfying paintings. (Roger Billcliffe, The Scottish Colourists, London, 1989, p.51) This lyrical painting is likely to have been created in Peploe’s studio at 54 Shandwick Place in Edinburgh’s West End, which he occupied from 1918 until 1934. His niece, Margery Porter, recalled visiting him there: How well I recollect my Mother and myself climbing those steep stairs and arriving panting at the top to ring his bell in fear and trembling lest our climb had been in vain. But usually he would usher us in wearing a white painting coat and a crownless hat…The studio was a large one, round which I would prowl entranced, after strict warnings not to disturb the still-life group which would almost inevitably be covering the table. My uncle would arrange and re-arrange these groups for perhaps three days before he was satisfied that the balance and construction were perfect, then he would paint them quite rapidly. (quoted in Alice Strang et al, S. J. Peploe, Edinburgh 2012, p.23) Peploe assembled a cast of objects which recur in his paintings like trusted friends, often crowned by the roses with which he is particularly associated and which he would often buy from the flower and fruit stalls of Princes Street; they were able to hold their shape long enough to satisfy his painstaking working process. The length of patterned fabric, be-ribboned black fan and platter in Still Life with Roses were all familiars by which he strove to create images of beauty and balance. The depiction of stems in water, seen through glass, was a painterly challenge from which Peploe did not shy away. Indeed, as can be seen here, it was often a way in which to show his mastery of applying oil paint to canvas in order to convey reflection, transparency and refraction. Works of this period show a relaxing of his technique from the tight control of the early 1920s, to a freer and more expressive approach to depicting form and light. Black and white provide the structural basis of the composition and a contrast to the decorative qualities and rich colour of other passages. Viewed from above and at an angle, Peploe seamlessly leads the eye from foreground to background, with particular attention paid to the variegated tones of the flower heads, their petals realised in thick, short brushstrokes. Peploe exhibited and sold still lifes regularly throughout his career and it is for his achievements in this genre that he is most celebrated as one of Scotland’s leading artists of the twentieth century.
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) TRESHNISH POINT FROM COWS ROCK Signed, oil on canvas, with another painting verso showing Peploe's sons with a cricket bat (51cm x 61cm (20in x 24in)) Note: Whilst serving in World War One, Cadell wrote to his fellow Scottish Colourist S. J. Peploe: When the War is over I shall go to the Hebrides, recover some virtues I have lost. There is something marvellous about those western seas. Oh, Iona. We must all go together. (quoted in Alice Strang et al, S. J. Peploe, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2012, p.24) True to his word, Cadell introduced Peploe to the Hebridean island, off Scotland’s west coast, in 1920 and they returned there most summers for the rest of their lives. Cadell first visited Iona in 1912, possibly because it was owned by his friend Ivar Campbell’s uncle, the 9th Duke of Argyll. He may also have been encouraged to do so by the fact that his friend John Duncan began painting there in 1903, followed by James Paterson and William Caldwell Crawford. As Alice Strang has explained: Iona has many attractions for the artist…It is low-lying, so the light reflected from the surrounding sea intensifies the colours of the white sand beaches and the green of its pastures. The light shining through the shallow waters at the edge of the shore creates brilliant colours of emerald green, blue and violet. In addition, the light and weather change frequently, as the prevailing winds cause a quick succession of cloudy then clear intervals. Iona is known for its geological diversity and there is a wide variation of colours in its rock formations; the red granite of the Ross of Mull is easily visible across the Sound on the east coast, as is the mountain of Ben More. There are also numerous views beyond Iona, particularly from the north end towards Staffa and the Treshnish Islands. On the island itself the main architectural features are the Abbey, the Nunnery and related buildings, the village and scattered crofts. (Alice Strang, F. C. B. Cadell, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2011, p.77) In 1903 Duncan moved to Edinburgh from America, where he had been teaching art at the Chicago Institute. A visit to Iona helped him to plan for the future and ‘he started by making a vow to devote his time to the realisation of spiritual art and to gather the crops of his imagination rather than let them rot in untended fields.’ (John Kemplay, The Paintings of John Duncan A Scottish Symbolist, Rohnert Park, 1994, p.43). Duncan played a key role in the Celtic Revival which blossomed in the 1890s and Iona provided the setting for some of his most important Symbolist works, which celebrated Celtic mythology; it was also where he is reported to have encountered Gaelic fairy-folk for the first time. Such was the inspiration that the island afforded Duncan, that he was to work there, on and off for forty years, often at the same time as Cadell and Peploe. Duncan’s Cathedral Rock from the North End of Iona (Lot 156) shows a view made famous by the more well-known images of the scene by his Scottish Colourist friends. Cathedral Rock is part of the headland at the extreme north-east corner of the island and is the location of some of its most dramatic geology. The view shown is out to Eilean Annraidh, Staffa and Mull. Auchabhaich Croft first appears in Cadell’s Register of Pictures (Private Collection on long-loan to the National Galleries of Scotland) in 1914 (work no.30), presumably painted during his trip to the island the preceding year. It is one of the crofts situated north of the village and Cadell was to paint it on many occasions, not least as it was not far from Cnoc cùil Phàil, the croft on which he most frequently stayed after the War. The buildings depicted nestled within Auchabhaich Croft, Iona (Lot 153) still exist, albeit extended in various directions. A T. & R. Annan & Sons Ltd label on the painting’s reverse gives it the title ‘Nightfall Iona’ and the image appears to capture the gentle light of the gloaming, as evening falls over the peaceful scene, with its reach to the Paps of Jura in the distance. Mull from Iona (Lot 157) leads the eye from a patchwork quilt of fields across the Sound to the neighbouring island, with particular attention paid to the tumult of weather conditions played out across the sky. This painting formerly belonged to Cadell’s great patron, the shipowner George W. Service, who holidayed on Iona. He reportedly donned a tartan dress jacket for the night of his annual purchase of work by Cadell and appears regularly in the artist’s Register of Pictures from 1913 until 1927. Service would often make multiple acquisitions at a time, usually but not exclusively images of Iona, commissioned portraits of some of his children and supported the artist’s sales in exhibitions such as those mounted by the Society of Eight in Edinburgh. His support sometimes formed the backbone of Cadell’s income, for example when he purchased fourteen works in 1921 for a total of £725, which was 40% of Cadell’s recorded total sales of £1,786 for the year. Two years after Cadell’s death, Mull from Iona was one of three works lent by Service to the landmark Exhibition of Scottish Art mounted at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Peploe was nearly fifty years old when he first painted on Iona. He was thus able to approach its visual possibilities with the experience of a mature artist and was particularly drawn to the natural beauty of the north end and the views from it. Treshnish Point from Cows Rock (Lot 154) was painted in this area; its dramatic composition sees the beach and protruding rocks occupy all but the upper fifth of the image. Peploe’s technique uses the materiality of oil paint to convey a sense of the texture of sand and weathered rocks, around which inviting paths meander. Between the alluring blue of the sea and the active sky can be glimpsed the west end of Eilean Annraidh in the middle distance and Treshnish Point on the horizon. A closely related painting by Peploe, Iona, Grey Day, is in the collection of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums.
Samuel John Peploe RSA (British, 1871-1935) Comrie landscape with clouds signed and dated 'Peploe/1901' (on the reverse) oil on panel 12.5 x 22cm (4 15/16 x 8 11/16in).
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) GIRL IN A HAT Signed, conté on buff paper (26.5cm x 21cm (10.5in x 8.25in)) Provenance: The artist's family Exhibited: The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, The Modern Spirit in Scottish Painting, 1986, no.84
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) WOMAN IN A HEADSCARF Signed, conté on buff paper (18.5cm x 18cm (7.25in x 7in)) Exhibited: The Scottish Gallery at Gallery 27, London, The Scottish Colourists, 2000
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) STILL LIFE WITH WHITE JUG AND PEARS Signed, oil on canvas (18in x 16in (45.7cm x 40.7cm)) Provenance: Sotheby’s Gleneagles, Scottish and Sporting Pictures and Sculpture, 2 September 1998, lot 1479, as ‘Still Life with Pears (The White Jug)’ Portland Gallery, London Exhibited: London, Portland Gallery, The Scottish Colourists, 14 June-19 July 2002, no.52 London, Portland Gallery in association with The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, S. J. Peploe (1871-1935), 7-29 November 2012, no.18, Ill.col.p.29. Still Life with Jug and Pears of c.1925 reveals Peploe’s mastery of the still life genre, which came to maturity in his practice during the 1920s. He summed up his dedication to the theme, even beyond the landscapes and portraits for which he is also celebrated, in 1929, when he declared: ‘there is so much in mere objects, flowers, leaves, jugs, what not – colours, forms, relation – I can never see mystery coming to an end.’[i] The still life was the primary focus of the work made in his longest-serving studio, at 54 Shandwick Place in Edinburgh’s West End. Peploe moved there in 1917 after it was vacated by his friend, the artist James Paterson and maintained it until a move to nearby Castle Street in 1934. The Director of the National Galleries of Scotland, Stanley Cursiter, described it thus: ‘the room had a large, high and well-placed window. The scheme of decoration was…kept in a very light key and he surrounded himself with brilliant colours.’[ii] As Roger Billcliffe has explained: ‘Peploe set himself as a target the perfect still-life painting. It had been his first love and his first serious achievements had been in still-life. His temperament made him ideally suited to the task. His calm reasoning and thoughtful manner enabled him to make a careful analysis of the problems which face the still-life painter and he set about resolving them.’[iii] A sense of this dedication is clear in a description of visiting Peploe in his studio by his niece, Margery Porter: ‘How well I recollect my Mother and myself climbing those steep stairs and arriving panting at the top to ring his bell in fear and trembling lest our climb had been in vain. But usually he would usher us in wearing a white painting coat and a crownless hat…The studio was a large one, round which I would prowl entranced, after strict warnings not to disturb the still-life group which would almost inevitably be covering the table. My uncle would arrange and re-arrange these groups for perhaps three days before he was satisfied that the balance and construction were perfect, then he would paint them quite rapidly.’[iv] Alongside a cast of cherished objects, including jugs, plates, bowls and various lengths of fabric, Peploe would introduce flowers or fruit to his still lifes according to the season. The apples and pears of Still Life with Jug and Pears would suggest that it is an autumnal painting. This caused some consternation amongst the purveyors of such produce, as explained by Cursiter: ‘When he selected his flowers or fruit from a painter’s point of view he presented a new problem to the Edinburgh florists. They did not always understand when he rejected a lemon for its form or a pear for its colour and he remained unmoved by their protestations of ripeness or flavour.’[v] Still Life with Jug and Pears contains all the hallmarks of Peploe’s work of the mid-1920s as he developed from the highly-complex and high-pitched still lifes of earlier in the decade and progressed towards the more raw and expressive style of the early 1930s. There is an overall feeling of dignity in the arrangement, subtle palette and natural lighting of this painting. The depiction of the pears in the foreground is a masterclass in perspective, whilst the warm tones of the apple to the right provide the colour focal point of the composition. Peploe’s enduring interest in the work of Paul Cézanne is clear, for example in the strength of form created by defined planes of colour, particularly in the fruit. Deliberately distinct brushstrokes convey shadow and reflection. The arrangement of objects is asymmetrical yet perfectly balanced, presided over by the jug. The edge of the table on which they are presented is aligned to the lower horizontal plane of the canvas, as Peploe skilfully plays with notions of reality and representation. Moreover, the cropping, such as of the dish on the left, suggests the space beyond the table and the frame. Peploe was to explore these concerns further in works such as the related and slightly later Still Life with Jug and Grapes (The Courtauld, London, acc.no. P.1992.XX.1). In this painting, the same jug has taken centre stage in the foreground, drapery plays a more significant role on the table-top and Peploe has extended the sense of distance by including a covered chair in the background. The poise and classical simplicity of Still Life with Jug and Pears has given way to a less polished vigour. Still Life with Jug and Pears dates from a particularly propitious period in Peploe’s career. During the 1920s his reputation was cemented in Scotland and spread to London, Paris and New York. He had regular solo exhibitions at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh and La Société des Beaux-Arts in Glasgow. When the latter business merged with the Lefèvre Gallery in London in 1926, Peploe’s work was also shown there. In 1923, paintings by Peploe, Cadell and Hunter were shown at the Leicester Galleries in London and again in 1925, joined by the work of John Duncan Fergusson. The four artists were celebrated in an exhibition at the Galerie Barbazanges, Paris in 1924, from which a painting by Peploe was acquired for the French national collection. In 1927, he was elected a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy and the Tate acquired one of his still lifes, meaning that he was represented in the British national collection. In 1928 a solo exhibition of his work was staged at the C. W. Kraushaar Galleries, New York and a room was dedicated to his work in the newly extended Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery. Corsan Morton, Curator at Kirkcaldy, summed up Peploe’s achievements of the period in his catalogue foreword: ‘It is in his still lifes, his arrangements of flowers, fruit, utensils and so on, that he has of late years achieved a very definite personal style of great beauty, which places him in a class by himself…He handles with distinction everything he touches.’[vi] [i] As quoted in Stanley Cursiter, Peploe: An Intimate Memoir of an Artist and of his Work, Edinburgh 1947, p.73. [ii] Cursiter, op.cit., p. 41. [iii] Roger Bilcliffe, The Scottish Colourists: Cadell, Fergusson, Hunter, Peploe, London 1990, p.51. [iv] As quoted in Alice Strang et al, S. J. Peploe, Edinburgh 2012, p.23. [v] Cursiter, ibid., p.55. [vi] As quoted in Cursiter, ibid., p.63.
Samuel John Peploe, R.S.A. (1871-1935) Church at Cassis Samuel John Peploe, R.S.A. (1871-1935) /Church at Cassis/ signed 'S J Peploe' (lower left) oil on canvas 20 x 24 in. (50.9 x 61 cm.) Painted /circa /1924.
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE, R.S.A. (1871-1935) /Pink Roses in a Glass Vase/ signed 'Peploe' (lower left) oil on canvas 18 x 16 in. (45.7 x 40.6 cm.) Painted in the early 1920s.
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) THE STATUETTE, 1920s Signed, oil on canvas (61cm x 51cm (24in x 20in)) Provenance: The Collection of the late R. L. MacDonald Footnote: Exhibited: Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, S. J. Peploe, F. C. B. Cadell and Leslie Hunter: Festival Exhibition, 1949 Note: A highly successful phase in Peploe’s career began with his move to a new studio at 54 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh in 1917, the end of World War One and the development of a close working relationship with his fellow Scottish Colourist, F. C. B. Cadell, once the latter was demobilised. The Statuette is a fine example of the assured still lifes which Peploe created thereafter, which were regularly exhibited throughout the 1920s and which proved to have immediate and enduring popularity. This painting reveals the care with which Peploe arranged his props, from drapery in the background to open book in the foreground. As his niece, Margery Porter, recalled ‘The studio was a large one, round which I would prowl entranced, after strict warnings not to disturb the still-life group which would almost inevitably be covering the table. My uncle would arrange and re-arrange these groups for perhaps three days before he was satisfied that the balance and construction were perfect, then he would paint them quite rapidly.’ One of Peploe’s favourite still-life objects, the titular cast of a torso of Venus, is key to the success of The Statuette's composition. His pleasure in colour and reflections, as well as his mastery of rhythm and structure, are clear. This work was included in the Festival Exhibition of work by Peploe and his fellow Scottish Colourists F. C. B. Cadell and G. L. Hunter, held at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh in 1949.
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) STILL LIFE WITH BOOKS Oil on canvas (23cm x 30.5cm (9in x 12in)) Provenance: The Scottish Gallery, Aitken Dott & Son, Edinburgh; The Fine Art Society, London 1968; Spink & Son, London, K2 5771 Footnote: Note: This work comes from a series of still lifes which date from the period in which Peploe established his reputation as one of Scotland’s leading painters. After success at the Royal Scottish Academy and Royal Glasgow Institute annual exhibitions, he had his first solo exhibition in Edinburgh in 1903. Still Life with Books contains all the qualities with which Peploe made his name: a sensuous use of oil paint, a structural use of bright colour amidst a muted palette and a harmonious arrangement of objects which suggest a sophisticated life-style. Other works in the series are held in Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow, The Fleming Collection, London and Aberdeen Art Gallery.
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) ROSES AND FRUIT Signed, oil on canvas (56cm x 51cm (22in x 20in)) Provenance: Acquired from Alexander Reid, La Société des Beaux-Arts, Glasgow in 1924 by Ion R. Harrison Footnote: Exhibited: Samuel John Peploe, La Société des Beaux-Arts, Glasgow, 1924 Fine Art Section, Empire Exhibition, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow 1938, no.28 Pictures from a Private Collection: Peploe, Fergusson, Hunter, Cadell, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, 1951 Three Scottish Colourists, Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Glasgow 1970 and tour, no. 71 Literature: Ion R. Harrison, 'As I Remember Them' in T. J. Honeyman, Three Scottish Colourists: Peploe, Cadell, Hunter, London 1950, p. 119, repr. col. pl. VI. Guy Peploe, S. J. Peploe, Farnham 2012, p. 137, repr. col. fig. 144. Note: Roses and Fruit is a superlative painting by Peploe. It not only shows the artist at the very height of his powers but was also part of one of the most important collections of the work of the Scottish Colourists ever assembled. Having explored the visual possibilities of the tulip in the immediate post-World War One period, roses emerged as Peploe's favoured flower in the early 1920s. They became the subject of the most celebrated paintings of his career. The interplay of light and colour amidst their layered heads, as well as the formal contrast with their strongly defined leaves proved endlessly inspirational. On a practical level, roses maintained their shape long enough to satisfy Peploe's painstaking working methods. In his still lifes of the decade, Peploe brought to bear all the experience he had gained in the genre as an emerging artist in Edinburgh before the war, his experimentation in pre-war Paris and the development of his practice during the conflict. Peploe's exploration of the work of artists from Edouard Manet, to Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne were brought to a triumphant and original conclusion in this period, as revealed in Roses and Fruit. This ambitious and confidently realised work features many of Peploe's most treasured still-life objects, from fruit compotier to gold-rimmed tea-cup and be-ribboned black fan. Each element is carefully placed in relation to the others, creating a sense of balance and allowing a seamless visual journey from drapery in the foreground to plate in the foreground. The cropping of, for example, the aspidistra leaf which enters from the left, is a clever device suggesting the space beyond the canvas, into which the viewer is invited to join the artist. The complex and triumphant realisation of the roses, their stems in water and the view through the vases are passages of extraordinary skill. A gentle palette is combined with bright colour, especially in the fruit, to provide rhythm and structure. It was with works such as Roses and Fruit that Peploe rose to international prominence in the 1920s and on which his enduring reputation as one of Scotland's most important artists is based. In 1915, Peploe had his first solo exhibition at Alexander Reid's gallery, La Société des Beaux-Arts, in Glasgow. Thus began a long and productive relationship with the business, which expanded to London, involving regular exhibitions throughout the rest of Peploe's life. As a result, many art lovers were introduced to Peploe's work, not least the Glasgow ship-owner Ion R. Harrison. He purchased Roses and Fruit from Alexander Reid when it was included in a solo exhibition in the city in 1924. It was one of the first two paintings by the Scottish Colourists which he acquired before going on to become one of their most significant patrons. In 1950 Harrison recalled: 'In was in 1921 or 1922 that I first became interested in the work of the...Scottish Colourists. The first exhibition of Peploe's which I saw was in Alex. Reid & Lefevre's, West George Street, Glasgow. Mr Peploe at that time had an Exhibition of Flower Pictures...I had never seen anything in art similar to these pictures...The first pictures I bought of the...Colourists were from a Peploe exhibition at Reid's which was held in March 1924. One was the beautiful Pink Rose Picture [sic - he is referring to the present work, which is titled Roses and Fruit under its reproduction in the book] and the other the smaller storm seascape painted at the North End, Iona. I recollect the thrill it gave me to hang my first two Peploes.' (Harrison, op.cit, p. 119) Harrison not only went on to acquire many of Peploe's most important paintings, but was also able to develop a friendship with the notoriously private artist. He explained: 'It was through Cadell that I first met Peploe and it was when Cadell was starting to paint a portrait of my wife that Peploe joined us at Croft House for a weekend. This was a very great privilege for us, for Peploe did not care for visiting people unless he knew them very well. It was a very happy weekend indeed and Peploe was pleased to see his pictures hanging together in their surroundings...I held him in great esteem and regard him as a very great artist.' (ibid, p.123). Indeed, over time the walls of the Harrison family home, Croft House in Helensburgh, were hung with masterpieces not only by Peploe, but also by Cadell, J. D. Fergusson and George Leslie Hunter. Such was the eventual importance of the Harrison Collection that it was exhibited at the McLellan Galleries in Glasgow in 1951. Roses and Fruit is being sold to support various charities.
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) COMRIE, PERTHSHIRE Signed, inscribed and dated 1916 verso, oil on panel (33cm x 41cm (13in x 16in)) Provenance: Ian MacNicol, Glasgow The Collection of the late R. L. MacDonald Footnote: Note: Peploe often visited his sister Anne and her husband, Dr Frederick Porter, in Comrie, Perthshire. He enjoyed painting the village and in this work of 1916 his subject is Comrie Parish Church. Viewed looking towards the north-east, its steeple emerges from trees and reaches into a richly described cloudy sky. Peploe used a similar geometric simplification of architecture and natural environment, realised with a gentle palette, in his contemporary depictions of Kirkcudbright.
◆ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) OLIVE TREES, CASSIS Signed, oil on panel (31.5cm x 41cm (12.5in x 16in)) Provenance: Baillie Gallery, London 1914, no.6 The Fine Art Society Ltd, Edinburgh, August 1976, no.7159 The Collection of the late R. L. MacDonald Footnote: Note: Peploe painted Olive Trees, Cassis during a key period spent working beside fellow Scottish Colourist J. D. Fergusson in the titular French port during the summer of 1913. Having moved back to Edinburgh from Paris the year before, the trip allowed Peploe to re-immerse himself in the world of avant-garde French art and Mediterranean sunshine. The brilliance of colour in this painting, its hard-edged form - realised in blunt brushstrokes - and the bold positioning of the foremost tree, reveal an understanding of and experimentation with the work of Fauve and Rhythmist artists who made their names in pre-war Paris. Olive Trees, Cassis was included in Peploe’s solo exhibition at the Baillie Gallery in London in 1914, which cemented his reputation as one of the leading British artists of his generation. The accompanying press coverage declared him to be a 'Post-Impressionist' with The Studio's critic describing him as 'an artist whose head is stronger than the theories he has embraced...he gets the best out of them, gaining from what licence for freedom of line and abandonment to colour he may require, but preserving always evidence of contact with life...retaining vitality and the power to convince.' ('Studio-talk', The Studio, vol. 61, 1914, p. 232)
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE, R.S.A (1871 - 1935, Scottish) A BREEZY DAY, IONA, c.1924 oil on canvas 51.0 x 71.5 cm signed lower left: S. Peploe inscribed with artist name and title on canvas verso: BREEZY DAY / PEPLOE bears partial label verso: PICTURES WITH CARE / Breezy Day, Iona / by PROVENANCE Mrs S. J. Peploe, Edinburgh, Scotland, until 1939 The Herald, Melbourne Sir Keith Murdoch, Cruden Farm, Victoria, acquired from the above in 1939 Thence by descent Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Cruden Farm, Victoria Thence by descent Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by S. J. Peploe, Royal Scottish Academy, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, February 1937, cat. 60 (label attached verso) Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art, The Herald, Melbourne, opened 16 October 1939, cat. 182 (label attached verso) LITERATURE Chanin, E. and Miller, S., Degenerates and Perverts: the 1939 Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2005, pp. 261, 272 RELATED WORK Cathedral Rock, Iona, 1920, oil on board, 38.2 x 45.6 cm, in the collection of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, Aberdeen, Scotland Clouds and sky, Iona, 1928, oil on canvas, 40.7 x 45.7 cm, in the collection of the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland Iona Landscape: Rocks, c.1925-27, oil on canvas, 63.8 x 68.8 cm, in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland ESSAY Samuel Peploe’s A breezy day, Iona, c.1924, is one of the astonishing selection of paintings by post-impressionist and modern artists that were included in the landmark Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art, initiated by Sir Keith Murdoch and which toured Australian venues in 1939. The curator, Basil Burdett, used his extensive personal and professional contacts alongside those provided by Murdoch to source a staggering 217 artworks by twenty-seven British and fifty-two French artists.1 Featuring paintings by such names as Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Dali and Ben Nicholson, the dazzling exhibition attracted more than 70,000 visitors overall, with a spectacular 45,000 in Melbourne alone during its two-week tenure at that city’s Town Hall. A great number of the works were for sale at very reasonable prices but in spite of the obvious interest and excitement, particularly by the younger generation of Australian artists, the conservative State galleries balked at the opportunity and only purchased eleven relatively tame works between them.2 Their suspicion and hostility to such ‘radical’ art was best summed up by James S. McDonald, the incendiary Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, who (in)famously declared that ‘the great majority of work called ‘modern’ is the product of degenerates and perverts.’3 Murdoch, obviously, was not so resistant and purchased sixteen works from the exhibition by artists including Pierre Bonnard, Walter Sickert, Stanley Spencer, and Paul Signac. He also chose A breezy day, Iona which joined its companions at Cruden Farm, the Murdoch family home, to be enjoyed as a daily experience. Samuel Peploe is referred to as being a member of the Scottish Colourists alongside John Duncan Fergusson, Francis Cadell, and Leslie Hunter, although this term was only first used after the artist’s death. It is true that his still-lifes and other interior works were rich with post-impressionist colour but his landscapes were executed in a deliberately reduced palette, seen as early as 1903 in the painting Rocks at Barra, in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. Peploe commenced his formal art studies in 1893 at the age of twenty-two at the Edinburgh College of Art, before travelling the following year to Paris. Here, Peploe studied at two of the most renowned Académies, Julien and Calarossi, both of which also attracted a number of Australian artists in the same years. The more popular Académie Julien was presided over by the hugely successful academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau, but the Calarossi encouraged a greater freedom of expression and exposed Peploe to the work of more challenging artists such as Courbet, Manet and Cézanne. For some years he travelled between Britain and France with his lifelong friend and fellow artist, John Duncan Fergusson, painting at locations such as Étaples, Paris-Plage, Dieppe and Le Tréport. In 1900, Peploe occupied a ‘spacious but dark studio’ in Edinburgh where he ‘crafted jewel-like arrangements highlighted dramatically against dark backgrounds.’4 In 1905 he moved again, this time to a contrastingly sunny room, and his still-lifes increasingly featured a dominant white tablecloth. It is these studio works in particular that led to Peploe’s appellation as a Scottish Colourist. Peploe had been exhibiting since 1896 but, by 1910, his work began attracting critical attention in London. He married that same year, moving with his bride to Paris and occupying an apartment near the Luxembourg Gardens. Despite returning to Edinburgh two years later, the French influence on his painting remained strong throughout his subsequent career. Around this time, Peploe – and his colleague Francis Cadell – developed a technique whereby the excess oil from their paint was leached out onto blotting paper before application, resulting in the dry, chalky texture seen in A breezy day, Iona. In 1920, Cadell introduced his colleague to this remote and rugged island, located off the south-western tip of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Peploe was entranced and would return regularly to Iona for summer holidays until his death. He preferred to paint at the northern end of the tiny island where the ‘merest shift of viewpoint of a few degrees (offers) a vista of new and perfect charms.’5 Iona possesses some extraordinary rock formations of sedimentary sandstone laid down in the Torridonian Era (1,200-544 million years ago), and at the centre of Peploe’s painting is one such pointed stack which he and Cadell christened ‘Cathedral Rock.’ This features in a number of the artist’s Iona paintings and is shown here near to high tide on a blustery day. However, in spite of the suggestive ‘breezy’ title of the painting, the summer of 1923 was quite challenging with Peploe observing that 'we had miserable weather in Iona this year – worst in living memory – gales and rain the whole time. I got very little done. But that kind of weather suits Iona; the rocks and distant shores seen through falling rain, veil behind veil, take on an elusive, mysterious quality, and when the light shines through one has visions of rare beauty.’6 1. Two extra works were shown alongside the 215 listed in the catalogue. 2. Another seven were purchased by State Galleries in the years after the exhibition, at much increased prices. 3. J.S. McDonald, October 1939 cited in Chanin, E. and Miller, S., Degenerates and Perverts: the 1939 Herald exhibition of French and British contemporary art, Melbourne University Publishing, 2005, pp. 229-230. 4. Gott, T., Benson, L., and Mathieson, S., Modern Britain 1900 – 1960: masterworks from Australian and New Zealand collections, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, p. 28. 5. Cadell and Peploe on Iona, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 2014. www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/iona , viewed 7 October 2021 6. Samuel Peploe, letter to William MacDonald, November 1923. See S. Cursiter, S., Peploe, Thomas Nelson, London, 1947, p. 71 ANDREW GAYNOR
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE, R.S.A. (1871-1935) Pink Roses in a Vase (recto); Still Life with Wine Glass and Fruit... oil on canvas 18 x 16 in. (45.7 x 40.6 cm.)
Samuel John Peploe RSA (British, 1871-1935) The red scarf, portrait of Jeannie Blyth signed 'Peploe' (lower right) oil on canvas 41.5 x 34 cm. (16 5/16 x 13 3/8 in.) Painted in c.1902 For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
