I am looking forward to giving an S. J. Peploe talk in Kirkcudbright this summer. Titled “‘Mr Peploe may be considered the leader’: S. J. Peploe and the Scottish Colourists” it will be held at Kirkcudbright Galleries on 23 July 2026 to accompany their exhibition COLOUR: The Palette of S. J. Peploe.
National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh: On Loan from a Private Collection
The Leader of the Scottish Colourists
Peploe was the most successful, critically and commercially, of the four artists known as the Scottish Colourists. Moreover, it was his friendships with F. C. B. Cadell, J. D. Fergusson and G. L. Hunter that bound them together as a quartet, as they never formed an official group. I will discuss how Peploe met, worked beside and exhibited with his Colourist colleagues, intertwined with an overview of his international career.
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums: Acquired through the Hyslop Collection Bequest, 1993
Peploe’s Palette
The exhibition has been curated by Amanda Herries and opens on 6 June 2026. Of all the Colourists, Peploe had the most significant connection to Kirkcudbright, in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-west Scotland. He painted in and around the Artists’ Town for years, partly because his pre-First World War friends, the artists Jessie M. King and her husband E. A. Taylor, lived there and partly because of its natural beauty. The exhibition will consist of over sixty paintings, from public and private collections, including Flowers and Fruit, Kirkcudbright Street Corner and Palm Trees, Antibes, featured here.
On Fife / Kirkcaldy Galleries: Fife Council: Purchased as part of the J. W. Blyth Collection1964
A Season of the Scottish Colourists
In addition to this S. J. Peploe talk in Kirkcudbright, please join me when I am ‘In Conversation’ about the Scottish Colourists at Perth Art Gallery, to accompany their exhibition of the quartet’s work, which you can find out about here. I am also excited about the publication of my book about the Scottish Colourists for the National Galleries of Scotland this Autumn, which you can read about in this feature.
