John Duncan Fergusson, R.B.A. 1874–1961
In the Patio: Margaret Morris Fergusson
Oil on canvas
71 x 61 cm
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
This is a portrait of the artist's wife Margaret Morris (1891-1980), an influential innovator in modern dance and an accomplished artist in her own right. She studied dance in Paris and by 1910 was established in London with her own dance school, becoming London’s youngest theatre manager two years later. Morris met Fergusson in Paris in 1913 and they moved to Glasgow in 1939. Together they collaborated on many dance projects and Morris helped to lay the foundations for modern dance practice. Fergusson's paintings often have erotic overtones - here the shapes of the fruit echo the forms of the breasts. He has used a reduced palette of colours and created harmony within the composition through the repeated use of arcs, on the head, still-life elements and arches in the background..More on this painting
John Duncan Fergusson, (b Leith , 9 Mar. 1874; d Glasgow, 30 Jan. 1961). Scottish painter (mainly of landscapes and figure subjects) and occasional sculptor, the best known of the Scottish Colourists. From about 1895 he made regular visits to Paris and he lived there 1907–14. His early work was Whistlerian and he then came under the influence of Manet, but by 1907 he had adopted the bold palette of Fauvism and became the most uncompromising adherent to the style among British artists (Blue Beads, 1910, Tate, London). More on John Duncan Fergusson
GUILLAUME SEIGNAC, French (1870-1924)
Indolence
Oil on canvas
24 x 20 3/4 inches
Private collection
An idle dreamer, one who lives a life of indolence and ease. The lotus-eaters or lotophagi are a mythical people found in Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus discovers them in a state of dreamy forgetfulness and contentment induced by their consumption of the legendary lotus fruit. Having lost all desire to return to their homelands, they want only to remain in Lotus-land living a life of idle luxury. Use of the term dates from the first half of the 19th century. More on Indolence
Guillaum Seignac (1870–1924) was a French academic painter. He was born in Rennes in 1870, and died in Paris in 1924. He started training at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he spent 1889 through 1895. He had many teachers there, including Gabriel Ferrier, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Tony Robert-Fleury. In addition to his training in the academic style, much of Seignac's work displayed classical themes and style, for example, his use of diaphanous drapery covering a woman's body is reminiscent of classical style, in particular the sculptor Phidias. In 1897, Guillaume Seignac regularly exhibited at the Salon and won several honors, including in 1900 honorable mention and in 1903 a Third Class medal. More Guillaum Seignac
Guillaum Seignac made several paintings named 'Indolence' using the same model
Edouard Vuillard, (1868-1940)
Yvonne Printemps au fauteuil, c. 1921' (lower right)
Peinture à la colle on canvas
51 1/8 x 38 1/8 in. (129.9 x 96.9 cm.)
Private collection
Yvonne Printemps (French; 25 July 1894 – 19 January 1977) was a French singer and actress who achieved stardom on stage and screen in France and internationally.
She made her debut as a performer at the age of 12 in a revue at La Cigale in Paris. At 21 she was singled out by the actor, director and playwright Sacha Guitry as a leading lady. In 1919 they were married, and worked closely together until 1932, when they divorced. Printemps never remarried, but had a personal and professional partnership with the actor Pierre Fresnay which lasted until his death in 1975.
Edouard Vuillard, (1868-1940)
Yvonne Printemps and Sacha Guitry, c. 1917
Oil, paper
89 x 63 cm
Museu de Arte de São Paulo - São Paulo, Brazil
Yvonne Printemps. As a performer, Printemps was famed for the quality of her singing voice and for her personal charm. Among those who composed for her were André Messager, Reynaldo Hahn, Noël Coward and Francis Poulenc. Her voice could have led her to an operatic career, but guided by Guitry she concentrated on operette and other types of musical show, along with non-musical plays and films. In addition to her many successes in Paris she appeared to great acclaim in the West End of London, and on Broadway in New York. More on Yvonne Printemps
Jean-Édouard Vuillard (11 November 1868 – 21 June 1940) was a French painter and printmaker associated with the Nabis. The son of a retired captain, he spent his youth at Cuiseaux (Saône-et-Loire); in 1878 his family moved to Paris in modest circumstances. After his father's death in 1884, Vuillard received a scholarship to continue his education. In the Lycée Condorcet Vuillard met Ker Xavier Roussel (also a future painter and Vuillard's future brother in law), Maurice Denis, musician Pierre Hermant, writer Pierre Véber, and Lugné-Poe.
Vuillard was a member of the Symbolist group known as Les Nabis (from the Hebrew and Arabic term for "prophets" and, by extension, the artist as the "seer" who reveals the invisible). However, he was less drawn to the mystical aspects of the group and more drawn to fashionable private venues where philosophical discussions about poetry, music, theatre, and the occult occurred. Because of his preference for the painting of interior and domestic scenes, he is often referred to as an "intimist," along with his friend Pierre Bonnard. He executed some of these "intimist" works in small scale, while others were conceived on a much larger scale made for the interiors of the people who commissioned the work. More Jean-Édouard Vuillard
Joseph Farquharson, R.A., 1846-1935
A GIRL RESTING ON THE DUNES
Oil on canvas
30.5 by 46cm., 12 by 18in.
Private collection
Joseph Farquharson, R.A., 1846-1935 was a tremendously skilled and popular painter who became renowned for his snowscapes, particularly those featuring sheep, and his countryside scenes. Many of his paintings were completed in the North East of Scotland at Finzean. Born in Edinburgh in 1846, Farquharson studied first at the Life School at the Royal Scottish Academy. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1873 and was elected an Associate in 1900. In 1880 he travelled to Paris where he studied under Carolus Duran, and in 1885 he went to Egypt. He died in 1935.
The remarkable realism of Farquharson’s work can be attributed to his desire to work in "plein air". However, this had to be carried out in a way which was adapted to the rigours of the Scottish climate: by constructing a painting hut on wheels, complete with a stove and large glass window for observing the scenery. Also, to achieve as realistic a result as possible when painting the sheep which frequently appear in his snowscapes, he owned a flock of "imitation" sheep which could be placed as required in the landscape of his choice. The unusual titles of many of Farquharson's paintings are worthy of note, and many of them were taken from poems by Burns, Milton, Shakespeare and Gray. More on Joseph Farquharson
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