Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell 1883-1937

Glasgow, Christies, 8 July 1982, lot 77;
Private collection.

STRUCTURE This picture is in unlined and in excellent original condition with clear colouring throughout. There is craquelure in the green areas of the picture but the paint surface appears to be stable. UNDER ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT There is infilling to the craquelure in the green areas. FRAME This picture is contained in an attractive simple wooden 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."

It is difficult to be sure when Still Life with a Tulip and a Black Fan was painted. After 1913 Cadell rarely dated a picture and the lists of the pictures he exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and elsewhere, are rarely more enlightening than Still Life. Initially it would seem that the present picture fits into the period of still life painting in the mid 1920s when Cadell painted a series of pictures of table-tops arrayed with Chinese tea bowls, blooms of flowers in jugs and vases and black fans. Typical examples are Still Life with Anemones (sold in these rooms, 31 August 2005, lot 1075), Roses (Sotheby's, Hopetoun House, 14 April 2004, lot 109) and Blue Jug and Silhouette (Bonhams, 20 August 2004, lot 1204). However the vibrant colours and limited tonal range suggest that this picture may be from the later 1920s and be contemporary with Pink Azaleas (private collection) which dates to c.1927 or even The Wedgewood Vase of 1929 (private collection) and Still Life, Roses in a Vase (Christie's, 26 October 2000, lot 190) of 1930. By this period Cadell had refined his still lifes, parring down the detail and creating images in which the perspectives were purposefully flattened and the tonal values were given more intensity. The Impressionistic use of paint of the earlier still lifes had given way to a more angular and crisper technique, often with primary colours, which reflect a more Fauvist approach to painting. This became even more apparent in the still lifes and interiors painted in the 1930s and it is likely that Still Life with a Tulip and a Black Fan fits neatly between the earlier still lifes in which Cadell used broken brushstrokes to suggest shimmering light, and the later pictures in which colour and tone are dominant over the subject.