Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell 1883-1937

STRUCTURE This picture is in very good condition with strong colours throughout. The paint surface appears to be stable and there are no signs of craquelure. The picture is clean and ready to hang. UNDER ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT There are fine retouchings to horizontal cracks in the paint surface which have been very well executed and are not visible to the naked eye. FRAME This picture is contained in a moulded plaster frame.
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Roses was probably painted between 1925 and 1930 when Cadell produced a series of modestly sized still lifes of flowers, including Pink Roses in a Blue Jug (private collection), Still Life with Anemones (sold in these rooms, 31 August 2005, lot 1075) and Roses (Sotheby's, Hopetoun House, 14 April 2003, lot 109). Often the vases and jugs of flowers in these still lifes are contrasted with china tea-bowls, paper fans or paperback books and are intelligently composed of objects that suggest elegance and refinement. The geometric lines created by the folds of the paper fan and the diagonal of the table-edge, contrast dynamically with the curves of the teacup and the organic forms of the roses.

The development of Cadell's style towards paintings of a stronger, brighter colour and almost architectural structure demonstrate the clear influence of Peploe, in particular his still lifes of a similar subject, such as Still Life of Roses and an Open Book (Sotheby's, Hopetoun House, 24 April 2006, lot 129) and Still Life of Roses and Oranges (Sotheby's Hopetoun House, 24 April 2006, lot 127). It was indirectly through Peploe, who had spent more time in France, that Cadell became acquainted with the French avante-garde tendencies such as the hatched strokes typical of Cezanne's late works and the bright palette of the Fauves. After seeing Cadell's first London exhibition at the Leicester Galleries in 1923, the art critic for the Daily Mail noted that; 'He has solidified his style. All forms are stated with an assurance that carries conviction. He has passed from vague impression to architectonic organisation.' (Tom Hewlett, Cadell, The Life and Works of a Scottish Colourist 1883-1947, 1988, p. 61). Following the same exhibition, the Sunday Observer wrote,  'Mr Cadell follows him (Peploe) so closely, both in colour and subject matter that it would be hard to distinguish between the two were it not that Mr Cadell's emphasis of designs leans him towards the two dimensional... he has gained conspicuously in his solidity of handling. There was a time when he took things a little too easily and relied too heavily on the charms of his gay palette - when his pictures were clever suggestions... which left too much to be filled by the spectator's plastic imagination.'(ibid Hewlett, p. 62) The Sunday Observer also reported that 'Not a trace of the earlier Cadell is left... although his colour has lost none of its charm and harmonious brightness.'