Lot 38
  • 38

George Leslie Hunter

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • George Leslie Hunter
  • Still Life of Apples
  • signed l.r.: L Hunter
  • oil on board
  • 45.5 by 61cm., 18 by 24in.

Provenance

The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh;
Private collection

Condition

The board appears sound. There are some occasional and minor areas of craquelure in some of the thicker areas of white pigment in the foreground centre-right - only visible upon close inspection. Overall the work appears in very good condition with strong passages of impasto. Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching. Held in a pale gilt composite frame under glass; unexamined out of 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."

Catalogue Note

Hunter loved nothing more than to paint fruit or flowers and he relished the prospect of devoting his time to still-life painting. He usually composed his still-life paintings around a central motif of a vase of flowers, bowls of fruit or sometimes more unusual objects such as a statue, or even a cooked lobster in one case. He would return to his Glasgow studio with bouquets of choice blooms or ripe fruit and despite the chaos of his housekeeping, was able to find interestingly shaped ceramics to contain them and construct a pleasing and sophisticated still-life from which to work. The bold colouring and the voluptuous forms of the bright apples arranged on a crumpled white cloth is reminiscent of the still-lifes of Cezanne which began to have a strong influence upon Hunter's work in the later 1920s. The same ecuelle (a covered soup bowl with two handles) appears in Still Life, Fruit of c.1926 (Sotheby’s, London, 22 April 2010, lot 69) and Still Life with Fruit, a Ewer and an Ecuelle on a Yellow Drape (Sotheby’s, Gleneagles, 29 August 2007, lot 139).

A friend of Cezanne, Louis Le Bail wrote a recollection of Cezanne's way of painting fruit which could equally apply to Hunter's; 'Then Cezanne arranged the fruits, contrasting the tones one against the other, making the complementaries vibrate, the greens against the reds, the yellows against the blues, tipping, turning, balancing the fruits as he wanted them to be...' (quoted in Derek Ogsdon, The Life and Work of George Leslie Hunter 1877-1931, Kelso, 2002, p.49)