FRANCIS CAMPBELL BOILEAU CADELL R.S.A., R.S.W (SCOTTISH 1883-1937)
PINK AND GOLD
Estimate: £150,000 - £250,000
Auction: 26 September 2024 From 18:00 BST
Description
Signed, oil on canvas
Dimensions
102cm x 76cm (40in x 30in)
Provenance
Presented by Miss M. K. Muir McKean, 1932.
Footnote
The Scottish Colourist F C B Cadell’s Pink and Gold epitomises the celebration of feminine elegance and a sophisticated lifestyle for which he is renowned. Even its title is the essence of modernity, focussing on the high notes of colour within the image, namely his sitter’s headscarf, floral accessories and the gilt of the mirror in which they are reflected.
Having trained in Paris and Munich, Cadell made his name in pre-World War One Edinburgh with paintings such as Reflections (Glasgow Life) and The Black Hat (Edinburgh Museums & Galleries). They featured fashionable ladies in the stylish interiors of the capital city’s New Town, often depicted in the artist’s own impressive studio at 130 George Street.
Pink and Gold reveals how Cadell’s work developed following his move in 1920 to an imposing residence at nearby 6 Ainslie Place. He took great pains over the decoration and furnishing of his new quarters. The distinctive lilac of the painting’s background reveals it to have been created on the first floor, where front and back drawing-rooms were linked by double doors and he brought painted black floorboards up to a high polish. Cadell revelled in the original features of the house, such as the white marble mantelpiece glimpsed in Pink and Gold, its colour used to signify a feminine space in the vocabulary of Georgian architecture.
During a landmark trip to Venice in 1910, Cadell’s imagination was captured by experiencing the city in mirror image in its watery surroundings. This led to an interest in reflections that became a defining characteristic of his work. Set to the centre-right of the background of Pink and Gold, the mirror reveals the space in front of the sitter, almost to where Cadell must have been positioned at his easel, its cropping also hinting at the room beyond. Furthermore, the device of the mirror allows Cadell to present his model in two poses, one looking directly at the viewer, the other seen in profile gazing beyond the realm of the canvas.
The present painting also shows how Cadell’s practice progressed from the bright palette, tight technique and suppression of volume of the works made during his first years at Ainslie Place. Portrait of a Lady in Black (National Galleries of Scotland) defines this phase, which gave way to lower-toned works such as The Embroidered Cloak (Ferens Art Gallery) and then to the calmer atmosphere, more gentle palette and broader technique apparent in Pink and Gold.
Cadell devoted decades to exploring an idealised portrayal of womanhood. Although his favoured model, Miss Bethia Hamilton Don Wauchope, sat for him for over fifteen years, his images of elegant, modish ladies – most often dressed in black, with carefully chosen luxurious accessories from broad-brimmed hats, glinting gold-hoop ear-rings and long white gloves – are not about the identity of a specific sitter. In Pink and Gold, Cadell contrasts his model’s fair complexion with the darkness of her outfit. The delicate defining of her facial features matches the treatment of the diaphanous nature of her headscarf as it falls over her back. In addition, freely-painted passages, such as the realisation of her be-gloved hands, verge on the abstract.
Pink and Gold was presented to Paisley Art Institute (PAI) in 1932, by Miss Margaret Kathleen Muir MacKean (1879-1969) of Auchenlodment House, Elderslie and of the town’s soap then starch manufacturing family. They were leading citizens of Paisley, not least its artistic circles, with her uncle James Anderson Dunlop MacKean (1849-1932) becoming an Honorary President of the Institute. As a major collector, J. A. D. MacKean gave several important works to the PAI’s holdings, including George Henry’s The Banks of Allan Water: Spring, Autumn and Winter series (lots 76, 77 and 78).
It is believed that Miss MacKean inherited Pink and Gold from her uncle, who died in the year of her gift. At the same time, her father William Muir MacKean gave Henry’s Beauty and the Beast to the PAI, whilst one of her other uncles, Major Norman MacKean, presented George Pirie’s The Hen Roost (lot 89); perhaps all three were given in memory of their recently deceased relative.
Our thanks are due to Colin C. MacKean, Miss MacKean’s first cousin once removed and PAI’s current Treasurer, for his help with our research.
