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.