Lot 136
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1871-1935)
IONA
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 panel
Dimensions
36.5cm x 43.5cm (14.25in x 17in)
Provenance
Acquired from the Artist by Archibald Forbes Hyslop (1892-1943) and thence by descent to the present owners
Footnote
Whilst S. J. Peploe’s fellow Scottish Colourist F. C. B. Cadell was serving during the First World War, Peploe wrote to him from Edinburgh: ‘When the War is over I shall go the Hebrides, recover some virtues I have lost. There is something marvellous about those western seas. Oh, Iona. We must all go together.’ (Letter of 2 August 1918, F. C. B. Cadell Papers, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, Acc.no.1124)
And so it came to pass that, following Cadell’s demobilisation in 1919, the following year he introduced Peploe to the Hebridean island, having visited it himself for the first time in 1912. They were both to return to paint there virtually every summer of their lives. As Alice Strang has explained:
‘In 1920 Peploe was nearly fifty years old, but Iona inspired a new direction in his work. Unlike Cadell, who painted a catholic range of subjects all over the tiny island, during the next fifteen years Peploe concentrated on analysing the rocks and sands of the north end and views from it, especially of Ben More on nearby Mull … Peploe initially lodged with the MacInneses at Cùlbhuirg, the principal farm in the west of Iona. Later, he and his family rented Lovedale in the village street.’ (Alice Strang et al, S. J. Peploe, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2012, p.24).
Iona is believed to depict a view from Cows Rock in the North End looking over to Rhum, a panorama that Peploe and Cadell enjoyed painting. Peploe focused on the pure white sand and geological features of the foreground, setting the horizon line some three-quarters towards the top of the composition, as if inviting the viewer to enter and enjoy walking across the beach. The scene is lit by bright sunshine and is presided over by a brilliant blue sky.
The painting was acquired from Peploe by his friend and patron the Aberdonian schoolteacher and His Majesty’s Inspector of Schools in Scotland, Archibald Forbes Hyslop (1892-1943) and has remained in his extended family ever since. In 1993, following the death of Hyslop’s widow, Winifred Reid, 19 paintings by Peploe were bequeathed to Aberdeen Art Gallery as part of the Hyslop Collection Bequest. They included three of Iona, namely Blue Sea, Iona (acc.no. ABDAG010712), Cathedral Rock, Iona (acc.no. ABDAG010719) and Iona, Grey Day (acc.no. ABDAG010708), whilst works by artists such as Robert Brough, George Leslie Hunter, William Gillies, Duncan Grant and D. M. Sutherland were also part of the bequest.