Colour and Light: Scottish Colourists from the Fleming Collection

The four artists known as the Scottish Colourists, Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, John Duncan Fergusson, George Leslie Hunter and Samuel John Peploe, were one of the most talented, experimental and distinctive groups in 20th century British art.

As early supporters of breakthrough artists in France, they drew inspiration from Post- Impressionist giants, Cézanne and Van Gogh, as well as the work of Matisse, Derain and more. Emboldened by such creativity, the young Scots explored the frontiers of contemporary art through their cutting-edge use of pure colour and line.

Colour and Light traced their development as virtuosos of dazzling interiors, landscapes, portraits and the still life, from their precocious beginnings to the maturity of their later works. Paintings, sculpture and works on paper from the Fleming Collection went on display alongside two works by Cadell and Hunter from Sheffield’s collection.

The exhibition also included a rare painting by Fergusson’s partner, Margaret Morris, an accomplished but often overlooked artist better known for her contribution to dance.

This exhibition has now closed

Graves Gallery

(Above the Central Library)

Surrey Street

Sheffield

S1 1XZ

A painting of a coastline in blue, white, orange and green. On the water there is a ferry, a yacht and a small boat. On the land there are abstract figures and small boat. — Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, The Dunara Castle at Iona, c. 1929

Image © The Fleming Collection

Exhibition highlights

Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, Loch Creran, Argyll, Date unknown

Image © The Fleming Collection
Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, The Feathered Hat, C. 1914

Image © The Fleming Collection

A painting of an adult dressed in black wearing a large white hat.
George Leslie Hunter, Peonies In A Chinese Vase, C. 1928

Image © The Fleming Collection

A painting of a table with a multicoloured tablecloth. On the table there is a vase with orange flowers, a fruit bowl with several pieces of fruit inside, a large cup and a piece of white cloth. Behind the table is a door and multicoloured wallpaper.
Margaret Morris, Flossie Jolley, C. 1915

© By Kind Permission Of Margaret Morris Movement International Limited. Image © The Fleming Collection.
Robert Brough, Fieldworkers, C. 1895

Image © The Fleming Collection

A painting of the outlines of adults working in a field.
Samuel John Peploe, Luxembourg Gardens, C. 1910

Image © The Fleming Collection

An abstract painting of a figure stood in front of an entrance to a garden. Behind the garden there is an outline of a large house.
Samuel John Peploe, Roses, 1919

Image © The Fleming Collection

A painting of a table with a yellow checked tablecloth. On the table there is a cup and saucer, a fruitbowl with three pieces of fruit and a tall black and white vase with four roses. Behind the table there is a background in blue, green and red.