- 31
Samuel John Peploe, R.S.A.
Description
- Samuel John Peploe, R.S.A.
- Still Life with Coffee Pot and Fan
- oil on board
- 16.5 by 24 cm., 6½ by 9½ in.
Provenance
The Fine Art Society, where purchased by the present owner
Exhibited
The Fine Art Society, Three Scottish Colourists, February-April 1977, no.1;
The Fine Art Society, Scottish Colourists, July 2000, no.22
Catalogue Note
While this picture is considered to be early within the artist’s oeuvre, Peploe was already over 30 when he painted it and the bold, spontaneous brushwork that makes up the rose and fan, or the sweeping stroke that delineates the glass, demonstrates a highly skilled and experienced artist at work. It is no surprise that having mastered the genre, Peploe moved swiftly on to pastures new, not content to rest within the confines of a tonal style, Edwardian in essence. Encouraged by his friendship with John Duncan Fergusson and his trips to France, he was discovering colour in a purer form. His change in style was not greeted cheerfully by his dealer McOmish Dott who had already established a demand for Peploe's earlier work; but today, the comparative rarity in the sale rooms of such still lifes, coupled with their virtuosity of technique, have made them some of his most desirable pictures for collectors.