£45,000
Auction: 5 December 2019 at 18:00 GMT
Signed, oil on canvas
Provenance:A gift to his friend George Hutchison and thence by descent
Note:
Scottish Colourist Samuel John Peploe is best known for his colourful and elegant still-lifes, but like all true artists, he turned his brush to all different subjects. In The Black Hat, he creates an intriguing and enigmatic portrait. The subject is unknown, though it has been suggested that she resembles Poppy Low, an artist’s model popular in Edinburgh in the 1920s, and particularly favoured and recognisable from the portraiture of Stanley Cursiter.
As in all successful portraits, Peploe distils something of the personality of the sitter, a slightly moody atmosphere, as well as capturing a charming portrayal of her appearance. There is also something further present, an artistic experimentation, as he plays with the palette; harmonising across the coral background with scraped out areas revealing bare canvas; while the soft, pale blue of her blouse contrasts with the dark shades of her distinctly 1920s hat and bobbed hair. The hints of rosy pink in her cheeks are highlighted with a decisive slash of vivid green to her cheek, and a gentler variation of the same pigment is deployed more softly in the areas of shadow in her jaw and neckline. A creative, colourful cacophony when viewed close-up, yet still a sensitive and harmonious portrait.