Lot Essay
Denise Ferran (loc. cit.) comments of the present work 'At present, few of the works which Leech painted in Quimper have surfaced, but 'The blue Shop, Quimper', which he exhibited in 1918, epitomises his use of colour, the play of light on the little blue-fronted shop and his fluid brushwork at this time. Stylistically it is similar to 'Rain - Atlantic Hotel, Concarneau' (private collection) which Leech exhibited in 1925, but the sunshine in 'The blue Shop, Quimper' radiates from the canvas. The blue of the shopfront is repeated in the blue suit of the man crossing the street. There is a similarity to the 'Pink Parasol' (private collection) in the figure of the lady passing by. There are elements in the motif and composition which suggests Whistler's shopfronts, such as in 'The General Trader', (Rhode Island School of Design), circa 1888, and reminiscent of Leech's own 'Interior of a Café' (private collection). However, in the period of a little under ten years, Leech's palette has changed dramatically; gone are the Degas green and rich browns, now replaced by glowing ochres, pinks and blues with tones of lilac in the shadows'.