George Leslie Hunter 1877-1931

Glasgow, Alex Reid & Son;
London, Thomas Gibson;
Private collection

The present still life of anemone flowers was probably painted during Hunter’s most active period of still life painting in the mid to late 1920s when he took a studio in the South of France and his paintings became invigorated by the warmth of the Mediterranean sun and by the influence of Henri Matisse. One of Hunter’s chief patrons in Glasgow, William McInnes owned a fine still life by Matisse that 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.’ (T. J. Honeyman, Introducing Leslie Hunter, 1937, 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)

Upon his arrival at St Paul de Vence close to Nice in the south of France late in 1926 George Leslie Hunter sought a studio in which to work. He was told of a small studio attached to a hotel in the town, the Auberge de la Colombe d’Or (House of the Golden Dove). Although in the first year at Vence Hunter also painted in other locations on the Mediterranean coast, at Villefranche, Cassis and St Tropez his base was at the Colombe d’Or. ‘It was in the South where the ideal setting for his work was to be found. There he could live like a peasant and feel like a prince. The utter simplicity of life – the peasant cooking – the plain white walls of his studio – the forms, colours richness of light in the surrounding landscape – all these gave him peace of mind and made for contentment.’ (ibid Honeyman, p. 145) Despite the beautiful surroundings, the sunlight, the kindness of new friends and Hunter’s production of very fine paintings at Vence, his health began to deteriorate towards the end of his time there. Following his ingestion of a quantity of turpentine that he had mistaken for a glass of wine, he was admitted to a clinic in Nice after which it was decided that he should return to Glasgow to be nursed back to health. This was unfortunate not only for Hunter the man, but also for him as an artist as the work he produced in Vence was of a high quality and had he remained there in good health and spirits he would undoubtedly have produced equally fine work.

The Auberge de Colombe d’Or was run by Monsieur Paul Roux who served an excellent lunch for guests (and resident artists) and made his guests most welcome with his simple but generous hospitality. Many artists found the hospitality enchanting, and among the visitors to the Colombe d’Or were the painters Miro, Matisse and Cocteau and in later years the simple hotel counted guests as varied as Sophia Loren to Sigismund Freud. Monsieur Roux told Dr Honeyman in 1934 when Honeyman visited the hotel; '’‘Huntaire! I kept him here for three years without any payment. He was “tres gentil”’ (T. J. Honeyman, Introducing Leslie Hunter, 1937, p. 142). Hunter paid his way by giving Monsieur Roux some of the paintings he produced in his small studio. Hunter even discovered a love interest at Vence, in Miss Helene Vanel who in collaboration with Lois Hutton founded Les Danseuses de Sant-Paul a dance theatre devoted to mime, dance and masque. Unfortunately like her classical namesake Helene ignited a destructive passion within Hunter which she did not reciprocate and it is believed that it was this unrequited love that led to Hunter’s break-down. He told Honeyman on one occasion; ‘If it had been possible for that woman to have married me everything would have turned out so differently.’ (ibid Honeyman, p. 145)