Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell

Acquired directly from the artist by Samuel John Peploe;
Thence by descent to Mrs. Margaret Peploe, Edinburgh;
Thence by descent to the present owner

Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, Festival Exhibition, 1949

The canvas is original. There is some minor craquelure tot he paint surface in places visible on close inspection. There is some minor surface dirt to the work. There are some minor abrasions to the extreme lower corners of the work which are probably intrinsic to the work. Otherwise in good original condition. Ultravioulet light reveals no sign of retouching. Held in a decorative gold painted frame with some very minor losses to the paintwork at the extremities. Under glass and unexamined out of frame.
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The vibrant colours and expressive brushstrokes of Still Life, Tulips, exemplify the bold style Cadell developed after the First World War. The overall effect is quite different from the slightly earlier impressionistic paintings and 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 carves conviction." 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." The composition in the present work is highly unusual and marks a key moment in Cadell's artistic development when, as is obvious here, he seems to be teetering on the edge of abstraction. The bold swathes of blue, red and yellow which suggest the table top upon which the vase of tulips rests appear to break free from the confines of traditional perspective and confidently co-exist with a new kind of balance and strength.

Cadell's movement towards a stronger, brighter colour scheme demonstrates the influence of his good friend Samuel John Peploe. It was indirectly through Peploe, who had spent more time in France, that Cadell became acquainted with the French avant-garde tendencies such as the hatched strokes typical of Cezanne's late works and the bright palette of the Fauves. Around 1919 Peploe painted a striking series of still lifes with tulips, remarkable for their bright colouring and bold compositions and redolent of the modernism of the unfolding jazz-age. Peploe had used colour at its highest pitch since his return to Scotland from a period in France in 1913. At first he painted bold, colourful still lifes and landscapes in which primary tones were emphasised by strong black outlines. By 1919 he ceased to differentiate the changes of plane and colour with outlines and the juxtaposition of bright colours placed side by side was used to convey intensity; "the main impression gathered from his paintings is of colour, intense colour, and colour in its most colourful aspect. One is conscious of material selected for inclusion in still-life groups because of its colourful effect; reds, blues, and yellows are unmistakably red, blue and yellow; the neutrals are black and white." (Stanley Cursiter, Peploe: An Intimate Memoir of an Artist and his Work, 1946, p. 43).

The current painting also provides an integral connection between Peploe and Cadell who throughout their artistic careers provided such an important point of reference for each other. Still Life, Tulips was given to Peploe directly by Cadell, presumably because it was a work which Peploe had greatly admired for its quality and sheer Modernism. Cadell's still lifes painted in the late 1920s and 1930s are perhaps his most sophisticated and accomplished paintings. Still Life, Tulips is a rare example of Cadell's supremely confident use of colour and composition, making this a highly important work of its kind.