Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell 1883-1937

Sotheby's, Gleneagles, 29 August 1975, lot 362a;
Private collection

STRUCTURE This picture is unlined and in excellent original condition with bright colours throughout. There are no signs of craquelure and the paint surface appears to be stable throughout. The picture is clean and ready to hang. UNDER ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT There are no signs of retouching. FRAME This picture is contained in a simple modern frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Still Life with a Lacquer Screen was probably painted in the late early 1930s when Cadell painted a series of striking still lifes and interiors at his studio in Edinburgh. These pictures are marked by the artist's insistence upon flattening the picture planes and using colour at its full strength. The inspiration for many of these paintings was from items in Cadell's own studio, which was described thus;  'There was no mistaking the house in Ainslie Place in which Bunty lived... The main rooms, on the ground floor, were large and well proportioned. He used the drawing room as his studio, and painted the walls in a rich mauve colour in sharp contrast to the brilliant white painted woodwork of the panelled, inter-connecting doors. The highly polished dark wooden floor, reflected the bright colours of the carefully placed Whytock and Reid furniture and provided the theme for many of his more dramatic interiors.' (Tom Hewlett, Cadell; The Life and Works of a Scottish Colourist, 1883-1937, 1988, pp.53-54)

The present picture includes items that are recognisable from other compositions by the artist, such as the blue jug and chinese tea bowl, the lacquer screen. The red chair that appears in the foreground of the present picture, draped with a printed scarf, became almost iconic in Cadell's paintings of this period. There are several paintings from the late 1920s entitled The Red Chair (for example Sotheby's, 1 September 2004, lot 863) but this favourite piece of furniture was raised to greatest prominence in the 1930s in a series  of still lifes and interiors, including The Red Chair and The Blue Fan of c.1934. The chair also appears in another work of the same period Interior, The Red Chair (Sotheby's, Edinburgh, 26 April 2007, lot 110) in which is part of an interior rather than being part of a complex still life of contrasting colours and forms.

Cadell's interiors and still lifes painted in the late 1920s and 1930s are perhaps his most sophisticated and accomplished paintings, capturing an elegant intelligence in the placing of objects and furniture and a striking juxtaposition of swathes of bright colour. Unlike his landscapes and earlier still lifes that capture the undulating organic rhythms of the natural world these alter works depict the more formal lines of man-made spaces. The overlaying of spaces leading the eye from one room to another, is reminiscent of seventeenth century Dutch painting but the effect of the bright colours gives the pictures a striking modernity. This was described by the critic Andre Salmon in 1926; 'Cadell aims... to charm without undesirable concession... his themes are full of grace. Yet if he wishes to attract people, he imposes tyrannically his taste for rigid line and the kind of geometrical harmony of his most attractive works.' (Ibid Hewlett, p. 76).