Lot 135
GEORGE LESLIE HUNTER (SCOTTISH 1877-1931)
GRAPES, LEMONS AND POMEGRANATES IN A SILVER DISH WITH WINE GLASSES AND A LOAF OF BREAD
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
51cm x 40.5cm (20in x 16in)
Provenance
John Massey, Glasgow;
Christie’s Glasgow, Four Scottish Colourists, 6 December 1990, lot 263
Private Collection, Scotland
Footnote
Grapes, Lemons and Pomegranates in a Silver Dish with Wine Glasses and a Loaf of Bread is a singularly accomplished still life by the Scottish Colourist George Leslie Hunter. After the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 destroyed virtually all of his work, Hunter moved to Glasgow which was to be his base for the rest of his peripatetic life. He developed a distinct approach to still life painting that encompassed art history, a sophisticated use of colour and light and a sense of serenity, all of which can be seen in the present work.
Its subject matter and composition speak of Hunter’s interest in the Dutch Old Masters that he encountered during visits to the cultural centres of Edinburgh, London and Paris, as well as in the public galleries of Glasgow. It is believed to date from around 1913, the year in which the artist received his first solo exhibition, held at Alexander Reid’s gallery, La Société des Beaux-Arts, in Glasgow.
As Hunter’s biographers, Bill Smith and Jill Marriner have explained:
‘Hunter had a great admiration for the paintings of Dutch seventeenth-century artists, such as Jan Vermeer, Frans Hals and Willem Kalf. Equally, Schopenhauer, the German philosopher whose views influenced Hunter, considered Dutch still life to be the best type of painting, because it was able to help the viewer see beauty in ordinary, everyday objects… An arrangement of objects against a dark background to accentuate a structured perspective, combined with sumptuous, often jewel-like richness, are elements that captivated Hunter.’ (Bill Smith and Jill Marriner, Hunter Revisited: The Life and Art of Leslie Hunter, Atelier Books, Edinburgh, 2012, p.54)
Hunter’s skill in depicting glass, reflections, the rendering of internal and external surfaces of fruit and bread and the bringing together of an ambitious combination of elements to create a harmonious composition is all clear in Grapes, Lemons and Pomegranates in a Silver Dish with Wine Glasses and a Loaf of Bread. The placement on a bright white tablecloth, set in front of a powerfully dark background, emphasizes the brilliance of the colours used in combination with a rhythm of form across the canvas. The triumphant signature, applied diagonally in red paint at the upper right, signifies the confidence of an artist working with great skill and success. The Glasgow Herald’s review of 7 November 1913 of his exhibition could be referring to this painting when it described Hunter as ‘a vigorous and confident painter with a fine sense of colour.’