Lot 116
JOHN DUNCAN FERGUSSON (SCOTTISH 1874-1961) ‡§
‘MADEMOISELLE CASSAVETES’
Auction: 7 September 2012 at 15:00 BST
Description
signed and dated verso J D FERGUSSON 1938, oil on board
Dimensions
40 x 32cm (15¾ x 12½in)
Footnote
Provenance:
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow
Note:
Fergusson, the last to be officially grouped with Peploe, Hunter and Cadell in the official definition of 'Scottish Colourist', was more commercially successful. Spending more time in France, he exhibited with greater frequency in Paris and London and his profile was consequentially higher. Arguably, Cadell and Fergusson were the two Colourists in whose work the "Cezannian" influence was most evident. Their work shares a robustness of line and sense of rhythm that is found less frequently or easily in Peploe or Hunter's paintings. However, where Cadell's work was deliberately flattened, Fergusson's had a more sculptural quality as here in his work of 1938, 'Mademoiselle Cassavetes'. One of the artist's typically handsome women, the composition is also demonstrative of Fergusson's attention to pattern.
