Scottish Colourists

Samuel John Peploe, John Duncan Fergusson, George Leslie Hunter and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell - a set of radical artists who enlivened the Scottish art scene with the fresh vibrancy of French Fauvist colours. Despite only exhibiting together on three occasions in their lifetimes, and the term ‘The Scottish Colourists’ being coined retrospectively, the four shared much common ground. They were all born in Scotland in the 1870s, and at various different times each visited France to experience the burgeoning avant-garde scene, returning to Scotland brimming with new ideas. The influence of French painting - from Manet to the Impressionists, Matisse to Cezanne – stayed with them all.

Each of the Scottish Colourists achieved recognition during their lifetimes but fell out of favour by the Second World War, before being rediscovered in the 1950s. By the 1980s, they were widely recognised for their contribution to Scottish art, breathing new life into the scene, and leading the way for the next generation of artists.

This book brings together both popular and rarely seen imagery along with new research to take a fresh look at the fascinating and international lives of the four artists.

Alice Strang was a Senior Curator at the National Galleries of Scotland, before becoming an International Auction House Specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh. She has been responsible for many major exhibitions, accompanied by publications, for example on modern Scottish women painters and sculptors, 20th-century Scottish Art, modern British art and, most pertinently for this publication, the Scottish Colourists F. C. B. Cadell, S. J. Peploe and J. D. Fergusson. Alice also regularly lectures about her areas of art expertise, including at the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and London and writes for the British Art Journal, Scottish Art News and for the Scottish Society of Art History.