John Duncan Fergusson

J. D. Kelly Esq., Glasgow;
T. & R. Annan and Sons, Glasgow;
Private Collection

Glasgow, The Arts Council of Great Britain, Scottish Committee, J. D. Fergusson Memorial Exhibition, 1961-1962, no. 12

The panel is sound. The work is in good condition, clean and ready to hang. Ultraviolet light reveals some extremely minor spots of cosmetic retouching around the figure. Held in a simple wooden frame in fair condition. Under glass and unexamined out of frame.
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Kirsten Simister identifies in the introduction to Living Paint: J. D. Fergusson that "it was Melville's travels to Spain and Morocco that inspired Fergusson to undertake the same journey. It is thought that he made two separate trips, first to Morocco in 1899 and second to Spain in 1901...the introduction of notes of bright red and green shows an awareness of the power of pure colour, revealing further the links with the Glasgow Boys, and pointing the way to Fergusson's future artistic direction." Fergusson would quickly execute small oil sketches using square-ended brushes and a bold application of pigment and colour such as can be observed in Spanish Senorita in Mantilla (c.1901), Red Braces: Self Portrait (c.1900) and Lamplight (c.1900). The present work bears a similar title to the latter picture and displays the typical virtuosity of these early works with bolder punctuation of colour amidst the predominantly darker tones in the painting.