George Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931)
Still Life with Gladioli, Dish and Fruit, on Pink Cloth
signed 'Hunter' (upper left)
oil on board
64.5 x 53.5cm (25 3/8 x 21 1/16in).
Painted circa 1923
Footnotes:
Provenance
Private collection of Robert Lockhart, Glasgow; thence by descent.

In 1923 Hunter was making strides realising on canvas concepts of weight, vitality, the essence of Nature, all through brilliant colour. Still Life with Gladioli, Dish with Fruit, on Pink Cloth is rich in areas of bold colour creating form and for balancing the design. This approach is something Hunter revelled in during his Italian visit in 1922, especially evident in the larger views of Venice and the environs of Florence.

After his Italian visit, Hunter explained to his friend, Matthew Justice, that his decision to cease still life for over a year to concentrate solely on developing landscapes had paid off (Letters to Justice, Private Collection). By late 1922, he returned to still life with new passion, finding beauty in the simplest of objects. His new style was met with approval at The 'Three Colourists' exhibition, Leicester Galleries, London when the critic for The Times wrote:
'The youngest, Mr Hunter loves paint and the flatness of paint....His Still Life paintings are strong and simple in design and gorgeous in colour. Only his firm taste and his mastery of colour saves him from being blatant.' (The Times, 6 January, 1923).
The Glasgow Herald critic went further:
'Alike in his studies of the environs of Florence and in these of fruit and flowers he works with a fully loaded brush, and with a desire, it would seem, to empower, his themes.' (Glasgow Herald, 11 January 1923).

Hunter's unmistakable passion to the fore, the glorious colour in Still Life with Gladioli, Dish with Fruit, on Pink Cloth radiates joy in a most powerful way.

According to Hunter's biographer, T J Honeyman, 'Lockhart by trade a gilder, but in actual practice a jack-of-all-trades, was also a Hunter devotee. In many ways Lockhart was a remarkable man. He would tackle any kind of job. If one handed him a picture which appeared to be completely beyond restoration he would examine it critically and invariably say - 'Leave it to me, I'll restore it to its virgin purity!' While he had a great respect for the tradition of the firm - how he did enjoy retelling experiences of old Reid's time - he was never overawed by persons or circumstances.
Whenever Hunter had a canvas requiring re-stretching or a frame in need of repair or of retoning, he would accept Lockhart's judgement at the conclusion of a heated argument, which was always a source of amusement to the spectator. The final observation was invariably Lockhart's - 'You leave it to me.'' (T J Honeyman, Introducing Leslie Hunter, London 1937, pp. 195-196)
Letters from Hunter also refer to Lockhart on several occasions (National Library of Scotland, Acc 9787)

Bonhams would like to thank Jill Marriner for her assistance with this footnote.

Overall presents very well.

There is a pin hole in the upper left corner, beneath the frame edge.
Again beneath the framed edge, there is light wearing to edges of the board, especially the top edge, resulting in some very minor paint loss.
One small chip to paint surface left of blue vase that has the gladioli stem.
Upon closer inspection, there is one small localised area of fine craquelure of paint in lower left (where the artist has used the darker red colour) - there is one tiny flake of loss as a result of this.

Overall frame dimensions: 88.5 x 77.5 x 8 cm. Glazed.