The Breeze, Antibes

Location

Country: USA
City: Washington DC
Place: British Embassy

In 1913 John Duncan Fergusson settled in Antibes in the south of France, having previously painted in nearby Cassis. Both Van Gogh and Cézanne had worked in this part of France in their pursuit of a new palette of colour and light and their influence is evident in this work. Another influence on Fergusson’s painting was Fauvism, a movement of avant-garde artists whose work he had seen and admired in Paris. Prior to his move to Paris in 1907, Fergusson’s work was limited to still lifes, landscapes and portraiture and was characterised by his use of a limited range of muted colours. The streets and cafés of Montparnasse and the Left Bank provided him with new subjects while the Fauvist paintings of Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck inspired him to use bright and vibrant colours. In paintings such as this, the increasing importance of colour, light and paint texture can be seen.

John Duncan (J. D.) Fergusson is regarded as an important and influential artist in Britain in the twentieth century. One of a group of artists known as the Scottish Colourists, along with S. J. Peploe, F. C. B. Cadell and Leslie Hunter, he was one of the few British artists to witness and become involved in the great changes in painting and sculpture which originated in Paris in the first twenty years of the century. Fergusson was born in Leith, near Edinburgh, and briefly studied art at the Trustees Academy after giving up a career in medicine. Frustrated with the quality and style of the teaching there, he decided to teach himself, painting from life in the open air. From the mid 1890s he looked towards France for inspiration, making regular visits to Paris from 1895, eventually settling there in 1907. He became closely associated with the Fauve painters, becoming a Sociétaire of the Salon d’Automne, where the most avant-garde painters and sculptors showed their work. On the outbreak of war in 1914, Fergusson returned to Britain, settling in London with his long-time partner, the acclaimed dancer and choreographer, Margaret Morris. They then moved to Paris before returning to Britain and settling in Glasgow just before the outbreak of the Second World War. In the 1940s, Fergusson established the New Art Club, with Morris, to encourage Glasgow’s young artists and the New Scottish Group, which held regular exhibitions between 1943 and 1956. Fergusson continued to give young artists opportunities to pursue careers in the arts, encouraging them to avoid the establishment and challenge the status quo, until his death in 1961.

Places

Mediterranean Sea, France, Alpes-Maritimes, Antibes

Subjects

topography, seascape/coastal scene, Scottish Colourists, tree, wind, stone/rock, sea, wave

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

John Duncan Fergusson (1874 - 1961)

Title

The Breeze, Antibes

Date

1913-1914

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 54.00 cm, width: 65.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Leicester Galleries, July 1969

Inscription

verso: J.D.Fergusson

Provenance

With Alexander Reid & Lefevre; Mac Coll. [Mac collection ?] by 1964; collection of Mrs Fergusson; from whom purchased by Leicester Galleries, London; from whom purchased by the Ministry of Works in June 1968, as ‘The Breeze’

GAC number

8537