Estimated Price:

   $   

Realized Price:

   $   

What is this symbol? This symbol indicates that this auction hose has verified this price result.

Login or subscribe to view price data

signed u.l.: L. Hunter

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Professor James Hendry of Glasgow University, and thence by descent
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

T. J. Honeyman, Introducing Leslie Hunter, n.d., repr. p. 78 pl. 15
CATALOGUE NOTE

Still Life of Anemones and Citrus Fruit is dateable to the early 1920s when Hunter's still lifes were at their most vibrant. The composition of one tall vase of flowers, in this case anemones, two lower bowls of fruit on a table-top draped with a curtain on the right side, was one which Hunter adopted for other paintings, including the contemporary Still Life with Green Beads and the slightly later Still Life with Tulips and Fruit. The carefully composed still lifes owe a debt to those of Peploe and Cadell and the black laquer fan in the present work is an object which appears repeatedly throughout both Cadell and Peploe's work. Interestingly, Hunter has painted one of his own still lifes of fruit into the background of Still Life of Anemones and Citrus Fruit, perhaps indicating the importance he placed upon still life painting above all other forms of art in this period. In the early 1920s Hunter travelled to the continent extensively and was much inspired by the art he encountered during his many visits to galleries and exhibitions in Paris and also in London. He also compiled a list of his ideals and guidelines for artistic projects, placing an emphasis on harmony of colour and form rather than contrast. He also sought to include distinct outlines and avoid over-finish in his paintings of this period.

In the early 1920s Hunter established friendships with several prominent men in Glasgow, who became his most loyal patrons around this time. These included associates in the shipping industry, William McInnes, William McNair and Ion Harrison. 'These men and several others in Scotland owe much to Hunter for their taste in pictures, and certain fine collections would be even finer today if his advice had been more accepted. Similarly Hunter owed much to them for wise counsel, which extended beyond the commercial aspect into that of suggesting and finding places particularly suitable for his work.' (T. J. Honeyman, Introducing Leslie Hunter, n.d., p. 81)

Still Life of Anemones and Citrus Fruit was bought by Professor James Hendry (1886-1945), a well known Glasgow obstetrician and gynaecologist. Hendry was the Medical Director of the Royal Glasgow Maternity Hospital and from 1927 to 1943 he was Muirhead Professor of Obstetrics and Surgeon in charge of the Gynaecological Department at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. He served as an authoritative and dynamic member of various committees and in 1937 he was a elected a member of the court of Glasgow University.