JD FERGUSSON La Vie Bohème: The Unseen Drawings 7 FEBRUARY – 3 MARCH 2018
16 DUNDAS STREET EDINBURGH EH3 6HZ +44 (0) 131 558 1200 mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk scottish-gallery.co.uk
THE UNSEEN DRAWINGS “Well I was in Paris, without money or rich relations… But repeatedly encouraged by what someone has called “le bon air de Paris, qui semble contenir les effleuves amoureuses et les emanations intellectualles.” Life was as it should be and I was very happy. The Dome, so to speak, round the corner; L’Avenue quite near; the Concert Rouge not far away – I was very much interested in music; the Luxembourg Gardens to sketch in; Colarossi’s class if I wanted to work from the model. In short everything a young painter could want…” JD FERGUSSON as quoted in Cafe Drawings in Edwardian Paris (Blackie, 1974) In her introduction to the book Margaret Morris quoted Fergusson again, giving advice to potential artists – “always carry a small cheap sketchbook, a very soft pencil and make quick rough sketches of anything around you; never correct a sketch, just make another; don’t try to make a good drawing, you won’t or by accident you may! Just keep at it, you are training your eye to see and your hand to respond.” Fergusson’s drawings are one of the greatest legacies of any artist, testament to his eye, hand and dedication, several thousand in number, some sketchbooks intact and in the care of the Fergusson Gallery in Perth but most now framed and cherished in private collections. This group of previously unseen works are typically economical, direct and true to the moment; free from affectation they are working drawings, seldom preparatory for painting but rather the exercise of the artist’s instinct and overriding interest in form, character and the joy of life. GUY PEPLOE January 2018
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Fergusson wrote of the Closerie des Lilas: “The girl frequenters were chiefly employed by dressmakers and milliners and wore the things they were working at…” plate no. 9
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Dog drawings occur throughout Fergusson’s sketchbooks.
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Cassis, situated near Marseilles on the Mediterranean Coast, saw a summer visit from Fergusson and Anne Estelle Rice in 1913 accompanied by SJ Peploe, his wife Margaret and son Willy who had his third birthday in August.
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Elizabeth Cumming has written about Fergusson’s sculpture and how many drawings are explicitly sculptural in their modus. Nude Statuesque is an example of drawing ‘in the round’ with the form represented in facets and a strong columnar pose, influenced by the pre-War work of Brancusi and Epstein. Later he would take inspiration from the dance positions of Margaret Morris’ young dancers with poses modelled in clay to be cast in bronze, many shown first in his show with The Scottish Gallery in 1923. The following year he produced his masterpiece, Eastre which has strong Celtic overtones while later in the twenties he returned to carving with Dryad (Hunterian Art Gallery), Oak Rhythm (Tate Gallery) and Plenitude d’Olivier of 1926 which relates strongly to our drawing.
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One of Fergusson’s most frequent subjects for drawing and in oil paint is a simple, female head, often full frontal, sculptural in its simplicity. Many are Meg, with her distinctive almond-shaped eyes, many more are her students, in particular her star dancer Kathleen Dillon, the inspiration for John Galsworthy’s Spring and the Four Winds, first performed in 1913. Others were friends who would agree to model and whose names have often been lost and together they make up a profuse tribute to beauty and elegance.
LIST OF PLATES 1 Self Portrait, c.1909-11 Conté drawing 20.9 x 13.4 cms
10 De Profil, 1908 pencil drawing 25 x 20 cms
2 Torse de Femme, Paris, 1911 pencil drawing 18.5 x 12 cms
11 Chapeau et Eventail, c.1908 Conté drawing 23 x 14 cms
3 Russian Ballet, c.1911 Conté drawing 18 x 11 cms
12 Not Amused, Paris, 1908/1909 Conté drawing 21 x 12.5 cms
4 Portrait de Fille, 1905 pencil drawing 30.5 x 25 cms
13 Le Garcon, c,1908 Conté drawing 18 x 11 cms
5 En Chapeau, c.1905 Conté drawing 18 x 10 cms
14 Americaine, c.1909 Conté drawing 21 x 12.5 cms
6 Faciné, c.1906 Conté drawing 12.5 x 12 cms
15 Girl in Hat, Paris, c.1909 Conté drawing 21 x 12.5 cms
7 La Belle Parisienne, c.1907 Conté drawing 23 x 14.5 cms
16 Dog, c.1905 Conté drawing 18 x 10.5 cms
8 Le Gentilhomme Barbu, c.1907 Conté drawing 23 x 14.5 cms
17 En Attente, c.1910 Conté drawing 21 x 12.5 cms
9 Milliner Girl, c.1907 Conté drawing 18 x 11 cms
18 Still Life at La Petite Farandole, Antibes, c.1912 Conté and watercolour 24.5 x 20.5 cms
19 Margaret Peploe and Son (Three Years Old), Cassis, 1913 Conté and watercolour 21 x 15.5 cms 20 Cassis, c.1913 Conté drawing 16 x 21 cms 21 Les Amis, 1913 pencil drawing 20 x 25 cms 22 Nude Statuesque, 1920 pencil drawing 34 x 22 cms 23 Grande Dame, Paris, c.1905 Conté drawing 18 x 10 cms 24 Nellie and Asters, c.1921 Conté drawing 18.5 x 12.5 cms
28 Capidi Bow, 1925 pencil drawing 25 x 20 cms 29 En Repos, c.1925 pencil drawing 25.5 x 20 cms 30 Portrait Head, c.1925 pencil drawing 25.5 x 20.5 cms 31 En Repos III, c.1930 pencil drawing 25.5 x 20.5 cms 32 En Repos II, c.1930 pencil drawing 25.5 x 20.5 cms 33 En Repos I, c.1930 pencil drawing 25.5 x 20.5 cms
25 Etude de Fille, 1922 25.5 x 20.5 cms
34 Seated Nude, c.1930 Conté drawing 18 x 11 cms
26 Nageuse, 1923 watercolour 26.5 x 21 cms
35 Portrait, c.1950 pencil drawing 25.5 x 20.5 cms
27 Allongée, 1925 pencil drawing 25 x 20 cms
JD FERGUSSON RBA (1874-1961) 1874
Born in Leith, Edinburgh, 9 March.
c.1895
Decides to pursue art full-time. After a short spell as a student at the Trustees Academy, leaves to become self-taught.
1896-1901
Visits France, Spain and Morocco.
1898
Exhibits watercolours of French subjects at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Society of British Artists.
1900-05
Annual painting holidays to coastal resorts of north-west France with SJ Peploe (1871-1935).
1902
Moves to first studio in Picardy Place, Edinburgh.
1903
Elected member of the Royal Society of British Artists.
1905
First solo exhibition at the Baillie Galleries, London.
1906
Spends summer with SJ Peploe touring the Normandy coast.
1907
Settles in Paris. Exhibits at the Salon d’Automne for the first time. Meets American artist Anne Estelle Rice (1879-1959). Teaches part-time at the Académie de la Palette.
1908
Makes his first recorded sculpture.
1909
Elected Sociétaire of the Salon d’Automne.
1910
Paints with Peploe and Rice in Royan.
1911
Launch of Rhythm magazine by John Middleton Murry and Michael Sadler in London, with Fergusson as Arts Editor. Paints with Peploe in Royan.
1913
Meets the dancer Margaret Morris (1888-1923) in Paris who later becomes his wife. Four works included in the Post-Impressionist and Futurist Exhibition, Doré Galleries, London. Visits Cassis with Peploe and Rice. Settles in Cap d’Antibes.
1914
Forced to leave Cap d’Antibes on outbreak of First World War and returns to London to be with Margaret Morris.
1914-18
The war years spent between his family and Peploe in Edinburgh and Margaret Morris in London.
1918
Commissioned by the Ministry of Information to make a series of paintings of life in naval dockyards, Portsmouth.
1922
Tours the Scottish Highlands with journalist and paints Highland Landscape series.
1923
First Scottish solo shows at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh and Société des Beaux Arts, Glasgow.
1926-28
Held two one man exhibitions in New York.
1929
Left London to settle for second time in Paris.
1930s
Makes regular summer visits to the South of France. Acts as President of the Groupe des Artistes Anglo-Américains, Paris.
1931
Les Peintres Écossais Exhibition, Galeries Georges Petit, Paris. Fergusson’s painting La Déesse de la Rivière purchased by the French Government.
1939
Settles permanently in Glasgow following the outbreak of the Second World War.
1940
Founds the New Art Club with Margaret Morris.
1942
The New Scottish Group formed, comprising members of the New Art Club.
1943
Modern Scottish Painting is published by MacLellan.
1948
First major retrospective exhibition at the MacLellan Galleries, Glasgow.
1950
Awarded honorary LLD by Glasgow University.
1950-60
Annual trips to the South of France to teach and paint at Margaret Morris’s Summer Schools.
1954
JD Fergusson Retrospective Exhibition (touring) Arts Council of Great Britain Scottish Committee.
1961
Dies 30 January in Glasgow.
Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition JD FERGUSSON LA VIE BOHÈME: THE UNSEEN DRAWINGS 7 FEBRUARY – 3 MARCH 2018 The exhibition and current available works can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/jdfergusson ISBN: 978 1 910267 74 5 Designed by www.kennethgray.co.uk Photography by John McKenzie Printed by J Thomson Colour Printers All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.