Leading Scottish colourist to feature in April auction

MAJOR IMPRESSIONIST WORK BY LEADING SCOTTISH COLOURIST IS STAR LOT IN BONHAMS SCOTTISH SALE.

Summer Garden, a sunny and serene painting by the leading Scottish Colourist, Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, is among the major works to be offered at Bonhams Annual Scottish Sale in Edinburgh on April 15.  It is estimated at £70,000-90,000.

Painted in 1907, Summer Garden reflects many of the influences the artist absorbed during his studies in Paris in the early 1900s.  The deft rendering of the foliage and the dresses of the ladies, recalls the work of the French Impressionists – in particular, that of Claude Monet.

Cadell’s style at this stage of his career is in contrast to the flatter painting technique he increasingly adopted after he returned to Scotland in 1908 and which is seen to greatest effect in the celebrated series of works of Iona which he began painting in 1912 when he visited the island for the first time.  Two of these works also feature in the sale, Iona (white sands looking East) estimated at £70,000-100,000 and Iona (the Island of Lunga) estimated at £60,000-80,000.

Bonhams Head of Pictures in Scotland, Chris Brickley said, “Summer Garden is a beautifully rendered depiction of a relaxing sunny day and shows just what a consummate artist Cadell was, at home in many styles. This work is a reminder of the early deep French influences on the work of this most Scottish of the Scottish Colourists.”

The sale also offers works by the other main Scottish Colourists, including several paintings by J D Fergusson, as well as by George Hunter and Samuel Peploe.

The Scottish Sale, which is now in its 15th year, has traditionally been held in the autumn but has now moved to its permanent new date of late Spring. All the major names in Scottish art are featured in the sale which also includes a huge range of objects related to Scotland from highland dress, to silver and glass; from books and furniture to whisky and ceramics.  The sale will take place at Bonhams Edinburgh saleroom, 22 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JJ over two days, 15 and 15 April.