Beschreibung:

‡ SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE (SCOTTISH 1871-1935) CASSIS, LOOKING INLAND Oil on panel Signed (lower left) 32 x 41cm (12½ x 16 in.) Painted circa 1913. Provenance: Lefevre Gallery, London Acquired from the above circa 1950 and thence by descent to the present owner Peploe had firmly established himself on the Scottish art scene in the early years of the twentieth century with his traditional Edwardian style of painting. He found success with a series of carefully observed interiors, still lives, portraits and landscapes. However, regular trips to northern France and Paris from the mid-1900s saw him come into contact with the likes of Matisse and Picasso and the latest artistic trends that avant garde Paris had to offer. He began to adopt a bolder, more vibrant palette, influenced by the art of Vincent Van Gogh the Fauves and their raw expressionism, he pared down his compositions to the barest, yet most striking elements - the black line contrasted with the brightest, richest colours. This new department was not approved of by his usual Edinburgh dealers who refused to exhibit Peploe's new paintings on his return in 1912. It was one year later that Peploe visited the bustling harbour town of Cassis in the south of France. It was to be the first of many trips and prove instrumental in the development of the artist's mature style. Like so many before and after him, Peploe was enraptured by the iridescent light of the region, the sparkling seas and sun-drenched hills. The colourist journey begun by the Fauves ten years earlier now encompassed a new group of painters who would go on to be known collectively as the Scottish Colourists. This tight-knit group comprised Peploe along with Francis Cadell, Leslie Hunter and J.D. Fergusson and they were Scotland's first Modernists. The present work was most probably painted during Peploe's first trip to Cassis in the summer of 1913. He had been invited by J.D. Fergusson and the American artist and illustrator Anne Estelle Rice Whilst he produced many views of the port at Cassis, he was also fascinated by the area around the town with its wooded hills and jumble of typically Mediterranean tiled houses. Cassis Looking Inland is one such example with the salmon pink rooftops juxtaposed by lemon-yellow highlights and Peploe's quintessential bold black outlines.