Lot 134
GEORGE LESLIE HUNTER (SCOTTISH 1877-1931)
ROBINSON CRUSOE'S HOUSE, LOWER LARGO
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Evening Sale ft. A Century of Scottish Colourists | Lots 88 to 168 | Thursday 04 June 2026 from 6pm
Description
Signed, oil on canvas
Dimensions
38cm x 46cm (15in x 18in)
Provenance
The Estate of the Late Eric Sloane
Exhibited:
Lyon & Turnbull, London, The Colourists at Connaught, September 2017
Footnote
Between 1919 and 1926, the Scottish Colourist George Leslie Hunter spent part of each Spring and Summer in Fife in eastern Scotland, which is bordered by the Firth of Tay, the Firth of Forth and the North Sea. As Bill Smith and Jill Marriner have written: ‘He came upon an important source of inspiration through his fortuitous discovery of Fife and the possibilities inherent in its colourful landscape and rural architecture … Subsequently he would go to Fife in any season. It was there that he made the break to paint en plein air. The artistic ground he gained as a result marked an important turning point in his development in terms of modern colour.’ (Bill Smith and Jill Marriner, Hunter Revisited: The Life and Art of Leslie Hunter, Atelier Books, Edinburgh, 2012, p.79).
Amongst Hunter’s favourite places to paint were the villages of Upper and Lower Largo in the East Neuk of Fife. He was drawn to Lower Largo’s harbour and beach in particular. The scene depicted in the present painting is from the latter, with the former beyond view to the left. The titular house is named after Daniel Defoe’s character, Robinson Crusoe, from his 1719 novel of that title. Crusoe was inspired by Alexander Selkirk, who was born in Lower Largo in 1676.
Hunter’s clarity of design leads the eye from rocky foreground to the simplified forms of the house, whose silhouette stands out against the brilliant blue sky. He has paid particular attention to the texture and patterning of rocks, seaweed and weather-beaten stone walls, whilst a seated figure enjoys the scene towards the lower right of the composition.
Paintings of Lower Largo by Hunter are in various public collections including Aberdeen Art Gallery, the Fleming Collection, London, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow and the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh.