George Leslie Hunter 1877-1931

W. B. Simpson, Glasgow

One of Hunter’s chief patrons in Glasgow, William McInnes owned a fine still life by Henri Matisse which Hunter greatly admired and would often sit in front for hours. Hunter had persuaded McInnes to purchase the picture whilst they were in Paris in 1925. In his later years the influence upon Hunter was at its strongest, although he never resorted to creating pastiches of his work. When Hunter’s work was shown in New York in 1929, the critic for the New York Evening Post  noted; ‘…it would be difficult not to think of Matisse at first viewing of this exhibition. Yet, after looking at it longer one sees that there has been an influence of Matisse, but that here is a new individual palette and personality.’ (ibid Honeyman, p. 135)  The bold colouring and the starkness of the forms of the pears and the emerald green vase of flowers against the table-cloth, clearly demonstrates Hunter’s admiration for Matisse. The exotic floral cloth in the background is also very similar to the fabric that appear in Matisse’s work. The Glasgow Art dealer Alexander Reid felt that Hunter was ‘”a more powerful colourist than Matisse and equally refined”’ (ibid Honeyman, p. 133)