‘Masterpiece’ of Scottish art returns home to Edinburgh auction

The painting, which was included in Peploe’s last lifetime solo exhibition in London, was acquired from the artist from Lord Kinnaird, believed to be Kenneth Fitzgerald Kinnaird, 12th Lord of Kinnaird and 4th Baron Kinnaird of Rossie, Perthshire. He died in 1972.

Since 2002, the painting has belonged to a distinguished private American collector and is one of the highlights of fine art auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull’s Scottish Paintings & Sculpture auction, on Thursday December 4.

Most likely to have been painted in Peploe’s studio at 54 Shandwick Place in Edinburgh, its return to the Scottish capital marks a homecoming for the work. Iceland Poppies dates from a period in the early 1920s when Peploe’s creativity was at its peak.

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Peploe’s niece, Margery Porter, recalled visits to his studio during which she was given an insight into his working method. 

Ms Porter said: “How well I recollect my Mother and myself climbing those steep stairs and arriving panting at the top to ring his bell in fear and trembling lest our climb had been in vain. But usually he would usher us in wearing a white painting coat and a crownless hat…

“The studio was a large one, round which I would prowl entranced, after strict warnings not to disturb the still-life group which would almost inevitably be covering the table. My uncle would arrange and re-arrange these groups for perhaps three days before he was satisfied that the balance and construction were perfect, then he would paint them quite rapidly.”

The son of a banker, S.J.Peploe was orphaned by the age of 13. He was apprenticed to an Edinburgh firm of solicitors, amongst other attempts at establishing a career, before going on to study art in Paris and Edinburgh.

Iceland Poppies is valued at between £200,000 and £300,000 (Image: Lyon & Turnbull)

The artist’s deep attachment to his paintings is revealed in a letter of January 6, 1930, in which he explained: “Paintings are funny things – they have a life of their own with their moods and changes, dependent, too, on so many things, they need looking after and being loved, like children.”

Peploe is regarded as the most successful of the Scottish Colourist artists, being elected a member of the Royal Scottish Academy, exhibiting regularly in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London and having works acquired for the British and French national collections during his life time.

Alice Strang, Lyon & Turnbull’s Senior Specialist in 20th-Century Modern & Contemporary Art, said: “The importance of the Scottish Colourists, S. J. Peploe and this painting are clear in the fact that it was acquired for a distinguished private American collection. 

“We are pleased to be offering it for sale in Edinburgh, especially when we believe it was painted in the West End of the city.   

“Peploe is known to have bought flowers from a stall in Princes Street, a short walk from his studio in Shandwick Place, little knowing that his resultant paintings would have international significance one hundred years later.”