It was fun to be part of an article about the Scottish Colourists in Scottish Field magazine’s March 2026 issue. I was one of a group of art historians, artists and curators invited to choose their favourite work by F. C. B. Cadell, J. D. Fergusson, G. L. Hunter or S. J. Peploe.
Marigolds with the Yellow Cup, c.1925
Private Collection
Marigolds with the Yellow Cup by George Leslie Hunter
Without giving too much away, I chose Hunter’s Marigolds with the Yellow Cup. He is arguably the least known of the quartet and his work could be uneven, but my goodness when he got it right – as he did in this painting – he was marvellous. It was set up in a corner of his studio in Glasgow and features several of his favourite props, from the Persian curtain hanging in the background to the white compotier on the table. You can sense his sheer joy in the choice and combination of bright colour throughout the composition.
Kirkcudbright, c.1918
Dumfries and Galloway Council: Purchased 1992
Kirkcudbright by Samuel John Peploe
The choice of Kirkcudbright by Peploe by Amanda Herries was an excellent one, as she is curating an exhibition of his work which opens at Kirkcudbright Galleries on 6 June 2026. Titled The Palette of S. J. Peploe it will look at his links with the Dumfries & Galloway artists’ town amongst other topics. Visitors to the galleries will be able to walk for just a few minutes round the corner to find themselves in the scene depicted in her chosen painting.
Eastre (Hymn to the Sun), 1924 / 1991
The Hugo Burge Foundation (c) Culture Perth & Kinross
Eastre (Hymn to the Sun) by John Duncan Fergusson
Dr James Fox, Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation, chose John Duncan Fergusson’s modernist sculpture Eastre (Hymn to the Sun). Fergusson was the only sculptor amongst the Scottish Colourists and is known to have worked in three dimensions for almost fifty years. If you are within reach of London before 20 February 2026, you can see this work on display in the exhibition A Collector’s Passion: Modern British Art from the Hugo Burge Foundation Collection at Lyon & Turnbull.
Interior: The Orange Blind, c.1927
Glasgow Life Museums
The Orange Blind by Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell
Completing our quartet of Scottish Colourists in Scottish Field was The Orange Blind by Cadell, chosen by the art historian Professor Duncan Macmillan. It is bound to be included in the new edition of his landmark book, Five Centuries of Scottish Art, which is to be published by Lund Humphries later this year as part of the Royal Scottish Academy’s bicentenary celebrations.
This is just to give you a taster of the Scottish Colourists in Scottish Field this month and give you suggestions of exhibitions to visit and a forthcoming book to read. And don’t forget my own book about the Scottish Colourists is due to be published by the National Galleries of Scotland later this year! In the meantime, you can read about them in this feature, my book in this news article and listen to a talk I gave about them via a link in this blog.
