The Scottish Colourist: J D Fergusson
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The Scottish Colourist:
J D Fergusson
Introduction
J D Fergusson was one of the four artists known
as the Scottish Colourists, along with Samuel
Peploe, Francis Cadell and Leslie Hunter. All
four artists were strongly influenced by French
painting, especially the Impressionists and
Fauves, and their work is characterised by the
use of heightened colour. They sought to develop
the modern approach they experienced in Paris
at the beginning of the twentieth century into a
distinctly Scottish mode of expression.
Fergusson was extremely proud of his Scottish
and Celtic heritage, which formed the core of
his artistic identity. Despite spending many
of his most creatively fertile years living and
working outside of Scotland, he was a passionate
advocate of Scottish art, which he felt should be
distinct from English culture.
The key themes in Fergusson’s work developed
over time. A common subject matter in his early
paintings is the strong, independent woman,
exemplified in portraits of Jean Maconochie J D Fergusson in his Edinburgh studio, 1905
and Anne Estelle Rice, who were both partners
to Fergusson at different times. After moving
to Paris in 1907 and encountering Modern The Exhibition
Art and the city’s community of avant-garde This exhibition is the first major retrospective of
artists, writers and philosophers, Fergusson’s Fergusson’s work in over forty years and brings
reverence of the strong woman developed into together over sixty paintings and sculptures from
a credo based on the glorification of elemental public and private collections in the UK.
femininity (which he linked to the Celtic Spirit),
and dance, rhythm, sexuality and intuition. This Words in this pack which are underlined refer
‘back to nature’ impulse coincided with a wider to the References and Connection sections
Western cultural interest in ‘the body beautiful’, on pages 29 to 31.
which found expression in Art Deco art and
design. Fergusson’s beliefs were reinforced by his
study of philosopher Henri Bergson’s work and,
most importantly, by his relationship with dance
pioneer Margaret Morris, who was his life partner
from 1913 onwards.
1
Biography
John Duncan Fergusson was born in Leith, near
Edinburgh, on 9th March 1874. He had two
younger sisters, Elizabeth and Christina, and a
younger brother, Robert. His father was a wine
and spirits merchant and the young Fergusson
attended the Royal High School in Edinburgh. His
mother encouraged his artistic ability from an
early age, but Fergusson initially opted to study
medicine at Edinburgh University. However he
soon realised his real interests lay in painting and
drawing, and he abandoned his medical studies to
concentrate on art. For a short time he enrolled
at the Trustees School of Art in Edinburgh but
didn’t continue his studies because he found
the teaching there too conservative. In the
late 1890s his father gave him some money to
support his artistic endeavours, and Fergusson
used this to travel to Paris to soak up the J D Fergusson Self-portrait, 1907, Oil on canvas, The
creative atmosphere. He studied at the Académie Fergusson Gallery, Perth and Kinross Council
Colarossi and the Académie Julian. At around this
time he also travelled further afield, to Morocco art groups and clubs, editing and contributing
and Spain. to journals. During his Paris years his influential
friends included Pablo Picasso, the sculptor
After beginning to make a name for himself on Jacob Epstein and the writer Gertrude Stein.
the Scottish art scene, Fergusson decided to In later life Fergusson took on the role of elder
relocate to Paris in 1907 to immerse himself in statesmen of the Scottish modern art scene
the avant-garde creative life. In 1913 Fergusson and Margaret Morris and he became known in
met Margaret Morris, an artist and pioneering Glasgow for their hospitality, and their support
dancer and choreographer. She and Fergusson and encouragement to younger artists.
were to become life-long partners, providing
each other with creative stimulus and support. Fergusson and Morris remained in Scotland
Together they spent time in Cap d’Antibes, up until Fergusson’s death in 1961. In 1963
drawing inspiration from the sunshine and vivid Margaret Morris, following the instructions
colours of the Côte d’Azur. They returned many of Fergusson’s bequest, established the J.D.
times to Antibes over the course of their life Fergusson Art Foundation, ‘to establish… a
together. permanent memorial of two galleries, one to
contain a representative collection of the work
At the outbreak of World War One in July 1914 of J.D Fergusson; the other to exhibit the work
Fergusson and Morris left France for London. of progressive artists of Scottish descent.’ In
After the war Fergusson’s career blossomed. addition the J.D. Fergusson Arts Award Trust
He exhibited in Scotland, England, France and continues to this day to support artists of
America, and his works began to enter public Scottish descent through financial grants.
collections. In 1929 he returned to Paris to live
and work, but at the outbreak of the Second
World War in 1939 he returned to Glasgow.
Throughout his life J.D. Fergusson was an active
member of whatever cultural milieu he found
himself in, loving to socialise and debate with
fellow artists, joining societies, founding several
2
1: From Leith to Edinburgh
J .D. Fergusson attended art school in Scotland
for only a brief time. His real education took
place during his travels to Europe, particularly
Paris (which he visited regularly from the late
1890s onwards) and through his interaction with
fellow artists, especially Samuel John Peploe.
Fergusson first met artist Samuel John Peploe
in Edinburgh in about 1900. They immediately
became friends and Peploe, who was three years
older than Fergusson, was an important influence
on Fergusson. Peploe had already studied at
the Royal Scottish Academies and taken classes
at the Académies Julian and Colarossi in Paris.
He had also visited Amsterdam, where he saw
paintings by seventeenth century Dutch old
masters such as Frans Hals and Rembrandt van
Rijn. These artists’ use of strong tonal contrasts
and broad brush marks to depict form influenced
both Fergusson and Peploe, as did the similarly
vivid brushwork of Diego Velasquez, whose work
Fergusson would have seen when he visited Spain
in 1901. A more contemporary influence came
from their shared admiration of the French artist
Édouard Manet.
Fergusson had his first studio in Edinburgh in
1902. With the income from the Cathedral
Hotel in Edinburgh, which he owned, he was Photograph of Jean Maconochie, c. 1904
able to fund a modest lifestyle, concentrating
on his artwork. He frequently painted ‘en plein
air’ - out of doors in the manner of the French
Impressionists. From 1904 Fergusson and Peploe
would make summer painting trips together
to France. At around this time Fergusson was
exhibiting regularly in national exhibitions such
as the Royal Glasgow Institute and Royal Society
of British Artists exhibitions, where his work
was well received. He began to establish a name
for himself, particularly for striking portraits of
women, such as The White Dress: Portrait of
Jean and A Girl with Black Hair.Fergusson was a
confident and ambitious young artist eager to
develop his work and hungry for the new ideas
and approaches he discovered on his trips to Paris.
3
1: From Leith to Edinburgh
The White Dress: Portrait of Jean, 1904
Oil on canvas, 178 x 120.5cm
The Fergusson Gallery, Perth & Kinross Council
This painting depicts Jean Maconochie, a young Scottish woman who belonged to Fergusson’s social
circle in Edinburgh and who was for a time his partner. Portraits of women and a general interest in
‘femininity’ and the female form were to constitute a dominant part of Fergusson’s oeuvre.
In 1905 Fergusson asserted that he was “Trying for truth, for reality; through light.” His statement
is consistent with the French Impressionists’ concern with depicting transient light effects. The
impressionists’ loose, visible brush marks helped create movement within their paintings, conveying a
sense of immediacy.
Key elements
• Fergusson treats his subject matter in an
impressionist manner, the loose brushwork
giving the portrait a feeling of vitality and
freshness. It is also evidence of the influence of
seventeenth century Dutch painter Frans Hals.
• The large scale helps give this painting its
impact. It has been described as “a life-size
image of Edwardian femininity”.
• The colour is limited to pinks and greens.
• Tonal contrasts are strong
• All these formal qualities (size, brushwork,
colour and tone) combine to give the painting
a confident, audacious feeling.
• Apart from some portraits of himself, all
Fergusson’s portraits depict women. In his
early work he shows a particular penchant for
ladies in hats. The elegance of this portrait is
reminiscent of the work of John Singer Sargent.
4
5
2: From Edinburgh to Paris
D espite some career success in Edinburgh,
Fergusson found the Scottish art world
stiflingly conservative and in 1907 he left
Scotland to embrace the liberating, vibrant
environment of turn-of-the-century Paris.
Here he experienced the work of the Fauves,
including Henri Matisse, André Derain and Kees
Van Dongen. The move to Paris was also partly
a result of meeting Anne Estelle Rice, a young
American artist living in France, who became his
partner for several years. She is depicted in the
painting The Spanish Shawl also on display in
Room 13. Together they were the central figures
in a community of British and American artists
living in Paris. In 1910 Peploe and his family
moved there to join them.
In his earlier trips to Paris Fergusson had first
encountered Modern Art in the flesh, and
choosing to live there permanently was a gesture
of his commitment to Modernism and the serious
ambitions he had for his work. He took classes at
the progressive Académie Julian and Académie
Colarossi. Looking back in 1943 Fergusson
described Paris as “simply a place of freedom.” It
Photograph of Anne Estelle Rice 1910
is almost impossible for us to imagine the impact
that going to Paris and seeing the work of the
Impressionists and Fauves must have had on
Fergusson. His work changed radically as a result
of these new influences; his colours became
brighter and more vivid, forms were simplified
and flattened, often with a strong outline. His
handling of paint became much broader and less
illusionistic.
In 1907 Fergusson exhibited for the first time
at the Salon d’Automne, an annual exhibition
set up in 1903 as a reaction to the more
conservative Salon. The first Salon d’Automne
was organised by Georges Rouault, André
Derain, Henri Matisse and Albert Marquet, all
artists associated with Fauvism. It soon became
the place to see new developments in art and
catch the first glimpse of innovative emerging
artists. In 1909 Fergusson was elected one of
the Salon’s sociétaires (members), evidence of his
acceptance by the Parisian Modern Art world.
6
2: From Edinburgh to Paris
La Terrasse, Café d’Harcourt, 1908
Oil on canvas, 108.6 x 122cm
Private collection, on loan to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
This painting depicts the interior of the Café d’Harcourt, one of Paris’ liveliest nightspots of the time,
located on the Boulevard Saint-Michel. The café was situated in the heart of the Latin Quarter, on the
Left Bank or Rive Gauche, which is the southern bank of the River Seine as it flows through Paris. The
term Left Bank nowadays refers to a bygone era, when this area was frequented by artists, writers,
intellectuals and students. It was a place associated with Bohemian ideas, counterculture and creativity,
and Fergusson experienced it in it’s heyday.
Fergusson made many drawings and paintings on the subject of café society. He was known to make
sketches on the spot in cafés and then work these up into paintings in his studio. Fergusson exhibited
this painting at the Salon d’Automne of 1909.
Key elements
• The painting shows the interior of the café,
with groups of people sitting at tables.
In the background can be seen the open
terrace where customers sit at tables on the
pavement outside.
• The loose handling of paint gives the painting
a sense of capturing a fleeting moment.
• The dark blue night sky seen through the
windows contrasts with the warm lighting
inside the café. Artificial lamps illuminate the
people sitting at tables, casting blue shadows
on the face of the young man and the central
figure. This is believed to be the first painting
made by Fergusson to depict electric lighting.
• The central figure of a woman in a pink dress
dominates the picture. The flatness of her
dress makes reference to fashion illustrations
and posters of the time, for example the
work of Toulouse-Lautrec, which Fergusson
greatly admired.
• Many of the women are wearing hats. This
continues Fergusson’s interest in millinery and
fashion, which can be seen in his pictures of
stylish women, such as Jean Maconochie, c.
1902, The Red Shawl, 1908, The Blue Hat,
Closerie des Lilas, 1909, and The Cloche Hat
1914-16. The Café d’Harcourt was frequented
by fashionable young milliners and fashion
designers often wearing their own creations.
7
8
3: From Paris to London
F ergusson’s time in Paris before 1914 was
probably the most creatively stimulating and
fruitful period of his career. Surrounded by the
artists and thinkers of the Parisian avant-garde,
he made breakthroughs in his work. He also
became acquainted with the ideas of philosopher
Henri Bergson. Bergson’s ideas were based on
the idea of a ‘life force’ which drives creativity, a
rejection of the over-analysis of experience (as
exemplified by Sigmund Freud) and a celebration
of nature, intuition and sensuality. These ideas
resonated with Fergusson’s own beliefs, the
direction in which his work was developing, and
everything he experienced in Paris.
In 1910 Fergusson met the young English writer
John Middleton Murry, when he paid a visit to
Fergusson’s studio. Murry was about to launch an A Lowland Church, 1916, Dundee Art Galleries and
avant-garde journal of art, music and literature. Museums Collection (Dundee City Council); purchased
from the J. D. Fergusson Art Foundation with the
After meeting Fergusson Murry appointed him
assistance of the National Fund for Acquisitions 1968
art editor and, inspired by one of his paintings,
titled the journal Rhythm:
“One word was recurrent in all our strange
discussions—the word “rhythm.” We never
made any attempt to define it; . . . All that
mattered was that it had some meaning for
each of us. Assuredly it was a very potent word.
For Fergusson it was the essential quality in a
painting or a sculpture; and since it was at that
moment that the Russian Ballet first came to
Western Europe for a season at the Châtelet,
dancing was obviously linked, by rhythm, with
the plastic arts. From that it was but a short step
to the position that rhythm was the distinctive
element in all the arts, and that the real purpose
of “this modern movement”—a phrase frequent
on Fergusson’s lips—was to reassert the pre-
eminence of rhythm.” (From The Autobiography
of John Middleton Murry, 1936)
As a consequence, the group of artists with
whom Fergusson associated, and who shared
his ideas and approach, became known as the
Rhythmists. These artists included his partner
of the time Ann Estelle Rice, as well as Jessica
Dismorr, Marguerite Thompson, and Samuel
Peploe. They exhibited together as The Rhythm
Group at the Stafford Gallery, London in 1912.
9
3: From Paris to London
Rhythm, 1911
Oil on canvas, 163.2 x 114.3cm
University of Stirling; bequeathed by Margaret Morris and the J. D. Fergusson Art Foundation 1968
Since moving to Paris, Fergusson’s work had gradually been getting bolder in colour and form. He had
previously often painted women who were his friends or lovers, but in around 1910 he began using
the nude model as his subject matter. His paintings became less portraits of specific people, and more
celebrations of elemental femininity. He used the female form as a vehicle to express his ideas about the
rhythm of nature, creativity, and the élan vital (life force).
Key elements
• The curves of the woman’s body, especially
her breasts, shoulder, knees and feet, echo
or ‘rhyme’ with the curves of the apple she’s
holding, the fruit in the bowl and the pattern
of the fabric surrounding her. All these things
work together to create a sense of movement
and rhythm in the picture.
• The figure is strongly outlined in very dark
red, brown and black, which has the effect
of flattening the image at the same time as
emphasising the shape of the figure.
• The very straight back and strong outline
monumentalises the figure – she looks almost
more like a statue than a living person.
• The figure in the painting is holding an apple
– perhaps a reference to Eve from the Bible,
the archetypal ‘first woman’. Alternatively, she
can be viewed as a pagan personification of
beauty and fertility.
• The background is made up of stylised shapes
and pattern suggestive of Celtic decoration.
• When it was exhibited in 1913, the critic of
the Observer, P.G. Konody, described this
nude as a “pneumatic woman” and complained
that “every part of her anatomy is inflated to
globular roundness”.
1011
4: A Return to Paris
I n 1913, amidst the heady mix of ideas
and creativity provided by his life in Paris,
Fergusson met Margaret Morris, a young British
dancer, choreographer and teacher. She was
in France with her dance troupe and called
on Fergusson at his studio. They had much in
common and her approach to dance chimed
with the Rhythmists’ beliefs and Fergusson’s
own convictions. She and Fergusson were to
become life-long partners, providing each other
with creative stimulus and support.
By this time Fergusson’s relationship with
Anne Estelle Rice had ended and he decided he
“wanted more sun, more colour...” He travelled
to the South of France and found a house on
the Cap d’Antibes. Margaret Morris joined him
there and together they drew inspiration from
the sunshine and vivid colours of the Côte d’Azur.
They returned many times to Antibes over the
course of their life together.
At the outbreak of World War One in July 1914
Fergusson and Morris left France for London.
Here they attempted to recreate the inspiring
cultural environment they had experienced in J D Fergusson and Margaret Morris in Antibes, 1958
Paris. With this in mind they established the
Margaret Morris Club in 1914; regular visitors
were Percy Wyndham Lewis, Katherine Mansfield,
Augustus John, Edith Sitwell and Charles
Rennie Mackintosh. Fergusson helped a lot
with Margaret Morris’s educational and theatre
work, including designing costumes and sets for
Morris’s productions and teaching painting at the
summer schools she began in Devon in 1917.
After the end of the war Fergusson’s career
continued to thrive. Although he never made a
great deal of money from sales of his work, his
reputation grew and he had his first work of art
enter a public collection when Head of A Girl
was given to Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow in
1923. A year later he exhibited in Paris with the
group of artists who would later become known
as The Scottish Colourists; his friend S J Peploe,
Francis Cadell and Leslie Hunter. He paid frequent
visits to Paris, but by 1929 could resist its lure no
longer and moved back there. Margaret Morris
remained based in London, commuting to Paris to
be with him.
124: A Return to Paris
Bathers: Noon, 1937
Oil on canvas, 115.3 x 146.4cm
University of Stirling; bequeathed by Margaret Morris and the J. D. Fergusson Art Foundation 1968
This painting is a double portrait of Margaret Morris and Fergusson himself. It is both a representation
of their appearance in a particular place (the South of France) and a symbolic representation of their
relationship and shared values. The creative connection between Fergusson and Morris was very
significant in both artists’ lives, with each benefitting from the other’s support and inspiration. Fergusson
frequently painted students from Margaret Morris’s school, and in 1925 Margaret Morris recalled
how “I first realised the absolute necessity of relating movement with form and colour when studying
painting of the modern movement in Paris in 1913.”
Bathers: Noon was painted in 1937, when Fergusson was 63 years old, but he is shown as a man at
his physical peak. Fergusson believed in the connection between emotional and physical wellbeing, and
advocated the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
Key elements
• The couple are depicted in their beloved South
of France, in the dappled shade of palm trees
on a beach, with the azure blue sea glinting in
the background. The painting exudes the heat
of a day spent sunbathing.
• Both figures are in peak physical condition.
In the interwar years there was a focus,
especially in Europe, on glorification of ‘the
body beautiful’, healthy living and back-to-
nature philosophies, perhaps in reaction to
the violation of bodies experienced during
the First World War. This found expression in
movements such as Naturism, Lebensreform in
Weimar Germany and The Women’s League of
Health and Beauty in the UK.
• The style of the painting shows the influence
of Art Deco, particularly in the representation
of Margaret Morris, with her simplified
features, bob haircut and symmetrical pose.
The rich colours and flat, angular background
also refer to Art Deco.
• The theme of ‘bathers’ has been recurrent
in Western art, partly because it provides
an excuse to depict nudes. Fergusson would
undoubtedly have seen works on this theme
by Cézanne, Picasso, Renoir and Seurat, to
name a few.
1314
5: From Paris to Glasgow
W hen war broke out in 1939, Fergusson
was once again forced to leave France for
the UK. He and Margaret Morris relocated to
Glasgow, which he believed to be the most Celtic
city in Scotland. He was commissioned to write
a book, which was finally published in 1943 as
Modern Scottish Painting. In it Fergusson laid out
his creative philosophy, including his dislike of
academic teaching, his advocacy of intuition and
self-expression, and his belief in the importance
of colour to Scottish artists.
He also wrote of his desire for Scottish
independence, which is particularly interesting to
us in 2014, given the forthcoming referendum J D Fergusson in his Glasgow studio, c.1955
on Scottish Independence due to take place in
September. Fergusson’s relationship to Scotland
was intriguing, however, given that he spent
about a third of his life living elsewhere. His
version of ‘nationalism’ embraced other cultures,
which he viewed as having Celtic roots and
therefore linked to Scotland – these included the
cultures of France and India.
Fergusson and Morris set up home in a flat
overlooking the Botanical Gardens in Glasgow,
each with a studio in which to pursue their work.
In 1940 they co-founded the New Art Club,
with the aim of offering affordable exhibiting
opportunities to artists and promoting debate of
ideas at ‘free discussion’ evenings. When the New
Scottish Group was formed in 1942 Fergusson
was its first president. In the 1950s Fergusson
began to receive some of the establishment
recognition that had been lacking for much of his
career. He received an honorary doctorate from
the University of Glasgow and an annual Civil List
pension for services to art.
155: From Paris to Glasgow
Wisteria, Villa Florentine, Golfe-Juan, 1957
Oil on canvas, 66 x 53.5 (81 x 68.6 x 3)
Private collection, courtesy Lyon & Turnbull
Glasgow was to be the couple’s final home, however during the 1950’s they often spent the summer
months in Antibes. This painting shows a view from the terrace of a Villa in Golfe-Juan, a resort on the
Cote d’Azur. In 1922 their friend and benefactor, George Davison had bought the Villa Gotte in Juan-
les-Pins, a few kilometres along the coast from Golfe-Juan. Davison supported both Fergusson and
Morris for many years, enabling them to hold summer schools in Cap d’Antibes. This is one of relatively
few landscapes painted by Fergusson.
Key elements
•
He has used a limited palette of colours: white,
blue, green, yellow and deep pinky red.
•
The foreground of leaves, canopy and tree
trunks creates a frame through which the
• viewer looks out onto the sea and strip of land
in the distance. The treatment of the leaves is
very decorative, accentuating the curves of
vine tendrils hanging down and the fan-like
palm fronds.
An extra focus in the foreground of the
painting is a still life arrangement of a bowl of
• fruit on a table.
The white sail of a yacht suggests the shape
of a triangular roof on top of the white house
• in the centre of the painting.
1617
J D Fergusson in Context: The Figure
J D Fergusson, Danu, Mother of the Gods Gino Severini, Danseuse No. 5, 1916
1952, 184 x 123cm, Oil on canvas 93.3 x 74cm, Oil on canvas
The Fergusson Gallery, Perth and Kinross Council Kearley Bequest, through the National Art Frund
Gino Severini was an Italian Futurist painter who lived and worked for most of his life in Paris. Like
Fergusson, Severini felt a strong creative affinity for Paris, stating this was the city where he was
“intellectually and spiritually” born. He moved there in 1906, just a year before Fergusson. Futurism was
an art movement closely associated with Cubism, which put forward a vision of the future focused on
‘modern’ themes such as speed, dynamic movement, technology and youth, as well as violence and war.
In common with Fergusson, dance was one of Severini’s favourite themes, although their visions were
quite different, Fergusson’s being essentially holistic and centred around the concept of rhythm, while
Severini was more interested in analyzing energy and expressing dynamism.
Key elements
• This painting depicts Danu, the most • Severini found inspiration in the dancehalls and
ancient of all Celtic deities. She is a cabarets of Montmartre in Paris. This painting
powerful ancestral figure; mother of the depicts a dancer doing a high kick, possibly as
Tuatha de Dannan (“Children of the Danu”) part of the Can-can dance popular in French
who are a race of supernaturally gifted music halls of the time.
people in Irish mythology.
18J D Fergusson in Context: The Figure
Key elements
• Danu is also associated with water and • The image of Severini’s dancer is fragmented,
may have given her name to several rivers helping to convey a sense of movement. This
including the Danube (running from Germany is in contrast to Fergusson’s static image.
to Moldova) and the Don (in Russia). In
Fergusson’s painting a lake is depicted behind • Severini has painted a wood grain texture to
the goddess. represent the floor of the stage, which refers
to the work of the Cubists, who often used
• As a powerful goddess, this painting of Danu collage in their paintings.
is entirely in keeping with Fergusson’s belief
in the power of the feminine life-force or • The composition is very dynamic, with strong
élan vital. Along with his friend the poet and diagonal lines cutting through the painting.
writer John Ressich, Fergusson believed there This enhances the sense of movement.
were two forces at work in the world, the
Roman spirit and the Celtic spirit. The Roman • Elements of the dancer’s clothing, such as the
spirit was masculine, represented war, and lace underwear and pleated skirt are used as
was doomed to failure. The Celtic spirit was decorative motifs.
feminine and represented a sympathetic,
imaginative spiritual force.
• In Fergusson’s painting Danu looks more like
a Hollywood filmstar from the 1940s than a
Celtic goddess.
• Fergusson’s painting shows the influence
of Art Deco, in terms of the vivid colours
and geometric patterns which make up the
landscape and the figure’s clothing, as well
as the headdress she is wearing and her
symmetrical pose.
1920
J D Fergusson in Context: Still Life
J D Fergusson, Jonquils and Silver, 1905 S J Peploe, Still Life Rose, 1920s
50.8 x 45.7cm, Oil on canvas 50.8 x 40.6cm, Oil on canvas
The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation On Loan from a Private Collection (2012)
This is one of relatively few still-life paintings made by Fergusson, who preferred to concentrate on figure
painting. In contrast, SJ Peploe ‘s oeuvre consists largely of still-life and landscape paintings. In his later
work Fergusson used the still life subject as a vehicle to explore his interests in colour and rhythm.
Key elements
• Jonquils and Silver shares the limited palette and • Peploe’s colour palette is far more vivid than
strong tonal contrasts with The White Dress, Fergusson’s. His painting was made in the
Portrait of Jean, painted the previous year. 1920s after the artist had lived in Paris for a
decade.
• The black background provides an ideal
backdrop to the glinting silverware and glass • The almost white background provides little
vase, which have been rendered using strong contrast with the pale roses, so Peploe has
contrasts of tone. emphasized their shape by the use of light
blue marks, suggestive of shadows.
• Fergusson uses the paint very loosely. Even
though the image is not finely detailed, it looks • The diagonal line of the green tablecloth going
very ‘real’ because of the illusionistic light from the centre to the bottom right of the
effects and reflections he has depicted. painting adds interest to the composition, as
does the line of the fan in the foreground.
• The cropped flowers at the top of the painting
show the influence of the Impressionists, • Peploe’s brush marks and modeling of form are
who were informed by the (relatively) new reminiscent of Cezanne’s work.
medium of photography, in particular the way
photographs crop scenes randomly.
2122
J D Fergusson in Context: Landscape
J D Fergusson, Storm Around Ben Ledi Mark Gertler, Near Swanage, 1916
1922, 54.5 x 55.8cm, Oil on canvas 24 x 36.2cm, Oil on board
Private collection, Duncan R. Miller Fine Arts, London Kearley Bequest, through The Art Fund (1989)
Mark Gertler was associated with the Bloomsbury Group, who were at the forefront of modern art
in England in the first part of the twentieth century. The Bloomsbury Group’s Roger Fry organised the
first Post-Impressionist exhibition in London in 1910, showing much of the work that had propelled
Fergusson to France. However despite these shared sympathies, Fergusson always sought to distance
himself from the English art scene, feeling that as a Scotsman he had more in common with Europe,
particularly France. In 1922 and 1928 Fergusson toured the Scottish Highlands with his friend, the
businessman and writer John Ressich. He exhibited the resulting landscapes in his first solo show in
Scotland, at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh in 1923. This painting was a result of his first trip.
Key elements
• The influence of Cézanne is evident in • Gertler’s painting is far more recognisable as a
Fergusson’s brush marks and rendering of form. landscape, partly because of its sense of space.
• Fergusson’s colours are less obviously • Gertler’s painting presents a calm, serene
naturalistic than Gertler’s. He has used strong landscape, which is interesting considering it
purples, reds and blues as well as greens. was painted in 1916, in the middle of the First
World War. This may be an outcome of Gertler’s
• Canadian painter Emily Carr said that pacifism, and a direct attempt by him to provide
Fergusson encouraged his students ‘to see an alternative to the carnage of landscape and
rhythm in nature’. This composition contains humanity witnessed during the war.
many echoing forms - the repeated curves of
hills, clouds and mountains in the distance. • Gertler has simplified forms and shapes, so that
trees and bushes are treated as solid clumps of
• The painting is treated in the same way colour and tone. He has rendered tree trunks and
across its surface, so the viewer cannot easily braches by simple brush marks.
distinguish between landscape and sky.
• Gertler’s painting takes a closer view, as if the
• The sense of scale is grand, encompassing a view viewer was standing on the path depicted in the
across a valley to mountains in the far distance. foreground.
2324
J D Fergusson in Context: Sculpture
J D Fergusson, Eástre (Hymn to the Sun) Eduardo Paolozzi, Crash Head, 1970
1924, Brass, 41.8 x 22 x 22.5cm Bronze on wood base, 39.4cm high
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Pallant House Gallery, Wilson Gift through The
Edinburgh; purchased 1972 Art Fund © Trustees of the Paolozzi Foundation
J D Fergusson is the only one of the four Scottish Colourists to have made sculpture, and it is perhaps
surprising that an artist known for his use of colour should work in a medium in which colour is often
the least important element. But Fergusson’s sculptural work fits perfectly into his world-view,
encompassing the stone carving of his Celtic origins and his holistic approach to creativity spanning
all art-forms. In addition, his favourite subjects were dance and the female form, which can be most
directly represented in three dimensions.
He made his first sculpture in 1908, encouraged by his friend, the sculptor Jo Davidson. The influence
of sculptors such as Constantin Brancusi and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska can also be seen in his work. The
peak of Fergusson’s sculptural output was between 1918-22, which coincided with developments in
Margaret Morris’ dance work, perhaps proving the importance of the interplay between the two artists’
work. Fergusson first worked in clay and terracotta, then moved on to direct carving in wood and
sandstone, as well as metal casting.
In common with many artists of the Modern movement, Fergusson was very interested in non-Western
sculpture, which he saw in the museums and art galleries of Paris and Edinburgh. He particularly admired
the vitality and inventiveness of Cambodian and Indian art. Once again, Fergusson’s allegiance with his
Celtic ancestry was reinforced by this interest, as he held the belief that the peoples of India shared
common racial heritage with the Celts of Western Europe.
25J D Fergusson in Context: Sculpture
Key elements
• Eástre is the Saxon goddess of spring and the • Eduardo Paolozzi’s Crash Head shares the
rising sun. Fergusson’s sculpture can be seen modern look of Fergusson’s sculpture, and
as a tribute to the life-giving power of the both works represent heads, but the artists
sun. The bronze is highly polished, giving the differed fundamentally in their interests
sculpture a radiant quality. and approaches to art. In contrast to
Fergusson’s holistic view of creativity and
• It is also possibly a portrait of Fergusson’s life force, Paolozzi’s view of the world was
partner Margaret Morris, who choreographed one of fragmentation and alienation in the
a dance piece called Hymn to the Sun. modern world. This sculpture is based on
Fergusson viewed Morris as a modern, the anonymous features of the crash head
sophisticated woman who was at the same dummies used in the test driving and test
time in touch with elemental values through crashing of new cars.
the rhythm of dance.
• Like Plénitude d’Olivier (on show in Room 15),
• In contrast to Fergusson’s carved stone pieces, Eástre is made from cast brass. Fergusson
this sculpture looks very modern, with it’s carved the original head out of plaster. A
polished metal surface and art deco style. mould was then made from this and used to
create the final sculpture by pouring molten
• The sculpture bears some resemblance to brass into the hollow mould. In this way an
Maria, the iconic heroine/robot from Fritz edition of several duplicates could be made of
Lang’s science fiction film Metropolis. the same sculpture. Paolozzi’s sculpture was
made in essentially the same way, although he
used a real crash head dummy to cast from,
rather than sculpting it himself.
2627
Some Important Dates in J D Fergusson’s Life
1874 John Duncan Fergusson born on 9th March in Leith, Scotland
1897 Begins to visit France regularly
1898 Exhibits for the first time in the Royal Scottish Academies exhibition
1899 Travels to Morocco
1900 First meets and becomes friends with Samuel John Peploe
1901 Travels to Spain. Exhibits for the first time in London
1904 Takes summer painting trips to France with S.J. Peploe
1905 First solo exhibition, at the Baillie Gallery in London
1907 Moves to Paris to paint and teach
1909 Elected a sociétaire of the Salon d’Automne. Exhibits at the Venice Biennale
1911 Establishes the journal Rhythm and is its Art Editor
1912 Exhibits with The Rhythm Group at the Stafford Gallery, London
1913 Meets Margaret Morris in Paris
1914 Outbreak of World War 1. Fergusson and Morris return to live in London
1923 First solo show in Scotland, at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1926 First solo show in the USA, at The Whitney Studio
1929 Moves from London to Paris
1939 Moves to Glasgow at the outbreak of World War II
1943 Publishes his book Modern Scottish Painting
1949 Tate Gallery acquires Fergusson’s painting Café-Concert des Ambassadeurs.
1950 Awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Glasgow
1952 Awarded a Civil List pension of £300 per year for services to art
1961 Dies in Glasgow on 30 January from chronic bronchitis
28References and Connections
Biography worked in London. Known particularly for his
painteings of elegant society women.
Académie Colarossi Art school established
in Paris in the 19th century by Italian sculptor
Filippo Colarossi. 2: From Edinburgh to Paris
Académie Julian Another Parisian art school Henri Matisse (1869-1954) French artist
founded in the 19th century. Like the Académie and leading figure in European modern art. His
Colarossi, it admitted female students and let work is known for its vivid colour and lyrical
them work from nude models. draughtsmanship.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish artist André Derain (1880-1954) French artist. He
who spent most of his life in France, and was one originally trained as an engineer until meeting
of the most influential artists of the twentieth Matisse, who persuaded him to focus on art.
century. Along with Georges Braque he was the
co-founder of Cubism. Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) Dutch artist
and one of the Fauves.
Jacob Epstein (1880-1950) American-born
pioneer of British modern sculpture. One of his Anne Estelle Rice (1877-1959) American artist,
most famous works is Rock Drill, 1913-15, a sculptor and illustrator, who exhibited along with
carved plaster torso perched on top of a real Fergusson and other ‘Rhythmists’.
industrial drill.
The Impressionists 19th century art movment
Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) American concerned with capturing the transient quality
Modernist writer who made Paris her home of light and movement in visual art. The name
in 1903. Her most well-known work is The originated from a painting by Claude Monet
Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. entitled Impression, Sunrise. The Impressionists’
anti-academic approach was radical at the time.
1: From Leith to Edinburgh The Fauves An Expressionist art movement
formed in 1904 by André Derain and Henri
Samuel John Peploe (1871-1935) Scottish Matisse. The name comes from the French
painter, one of the ‘Scottish Colourists’. for ‘wild beasts’, which the artists were called
because of their use of strong colours and very
Frans Hals (1582-1666) Dutch painter known loose brush marks.
for his portraits, and loose, painterly brushwork.
Georges Rouault (1871-1958) French artist
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) Dutch painter associated with Fauvism and Expressionism.
and printmaker, considered to be one of the
greatest European artists. Albert Marquet (1875-1947) French artist
assoicated early on with the Fauves. He later
Diego Velasquez (1599-1660) Spanish painter, worked in a more naturalist style.
leading court artist to King Philip IV of Spain. His
most well-known work is Las Meninas (1656). Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
French artist who depicted Parisian leisure and
Édouard Manet (1832-1883) French artist, nightlife, especially bars, theatres and cabaret. He
pivotal figure in the birth of Modern European Art. produced iconic posters of the Moulin Rouge.
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) American
painter who trained in Paris and then lived and
29References and Connections
3: From Paris to London exponent of Art Nouveau in Britain. He designed
the Glasgow School of Art.
Henri Bergson (1859-1941) French philosopher
who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in The Scottish Colourists Group of painters
1927 for his work The Creative Evolution. His whose post-impressionist work was characterised
work stressed the importance of intuition over by developed use of colour.
rationalism or science.
Francis Cadell (1883-1937) The youngeest of
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian the Scottish Colourists, particularly known for his
neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis. paintings of landscapes and interiors.
John Middleton Murry (1889-1957) English Leslie Hunter (1877-1931) One of the Scottish
writer, second wife of Katherine Mansfield and Colourists, whose work focused on landscapes and
friend of D H Lawrence. still-lifes.
Jessica Dismorr (1885-1939) English artist Naturism Cultural and political movement
and member of The Vorticist movement. She advocating nudity as a lfestyle choice.
contributed to Rhythm magazine.
Lebensreform A social movement in Switzerland
Marguerite Thompson (1887-1968) American and Germany in the late 19th and early twentieth
artist, she helped introduce Fauvism to the USA. centuries, advocating a back-to-nature liefstyle.
The name translates as ‘life reform’.
4: A Return to Paris The Women’s League of Health and Beauty
was formed in 1930 by Mary Bagot Stack, who had
Margaret Morris (1891-1980) British dancer, a vision of a league of women who, through physical
choregrapher and teacher, founder of Margaret fitness, would make the world a better place.
Morris movement, Celtic Ballet and two Scottish
National Ballets in Glasgow and Pitlochry. Art Deco Art and design style popular
between the first and second world wars. It is
Margaret Morris Club set up in Flood Street, characterised by bold colours, geometric shapes,
Chelsea, London. The club aimed to provide a rich decoration, and machine-inspired motifs.
space for performances and free discussion.
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) French artist often
Percy Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957) English described as the father of modern art. His use
writer and artist, co-founder of the Camden Town of planes of colour and repetitive brush marks to
Group in 1911 and The Vorticists in 1913-15. build up form was the forerunner of Cubism.
Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) Modernist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) French
writer who was born in New Zealand lived most of painter, leading artist of the Impressionists.
her life in the UK.
Georges Seurat (1859-1891) French post-
Augustus John (1878-1961) Welsh artist and impressionist artist who was particulalry
brother of the painter Gwen John. interested in colour theory and orginated the
Pointillist style of painting.
Edith Sitwell (1887-1964) British avant-garde
poet and critic.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)
Scottish architect and designer who was the main
30References and Connections
5: From Paris to Glasgow Emily Carr (1871-1945) Canadian artist and
one of the first painters in Canada to work in a
New Scottish Group Loose collection of artists in modernist style.
Glasgow, formed in 1942. Members shared left-
wing views and an interest in modern European
developments in art. In Context: Sculpture
Jo Davidson (1883-1952) American sculptor
In Context: The Figure who specialised in portrait busts.
Gino Severini (1883-1966) Italian artist and Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) Romanian
leading member of the Futurists. sculptor and pioneer or modernist sculpture. Some
of his most famous works are The Kiss (1908) and
Futurism Avant-garde art movement concerned Endless Column (1938).
with concepts of the future including youth,
speed, technology and violence. It was founded by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891-1915) French
Filippo Tomasso Marinetti in Italy in 1909. artist and sculptor. He was associated with the
Vorticists whilst living in London. He was killed in
Cubism Art movement led by Picasso and Braque while serving as a soldier in World War One.
in Paris in the early twentich century. Cubism
rejected the depiction of objects from one Maria Iconic character from the film Metropolis. In
viewpoint and instead attempted to create a more the film, Maria is both a living woman (played by
‘real’ representation by showing many different actress Brigitte Helm) and her robot double. The
viewpoints of a subject. robot C3PO in Star Wars owes a lot to the design
of the robot Maria.
In Context: Landscape Fritz Lang (1890-1976) German-Austrian
Expressionist film director who began his career in
Mark Gertler (1891-1939) British painter Berlin before moving to the USA in the 1930’s as
who socialised with members of the Bloomsbury Hitler rose to power.
Group. He was a pacifist and during the First World
War was a conscientious objector. Metropolis Silent science fiction film made in
Germany in 1925 by Fritz Lang. It was the first
Bloomsbury Group Influential group of artists, science fiction film ever to be made and is a
writers, and intellectuals who were united by their dystopian vision of a class-divided city of the
belief in the importance of the arts. Key members future.
included Virginia Woolf, Duncan Grant, Vanessa
Bell and E. M. Forster.
Roger Fry (1866-1934) English artist and critic
who was one of the first people to bring modern
European art to the UK in the early twentieth
century.
Post Impressionists Term coined by Roger Fry
to describe developments in French art after
Impressionism. There was no defined movement,
but post-impressionist artist include Van Gogh,
Seurat, Gauguin and Cézanne.Written and designed by:
Louise Bristow, Freelancer
Katy Norris, Assistant Curator
Natalie Franklin, Learning Programme Manager
n.franklin@pallant.org.uk, 01243 770839
Telephone 01243 774557
info@pallant.org.uk
www.pallant.org.uk
9 North Pallant, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1TJYou can also read
