Still life of dahlias, a wine glass and melon

Hunter, more than Cadell or Fergusson and possibly also Peploe, studied and admired the compositions and techniques of the Old Masters. He wrote in a notebook of 'energy, freshness and masterly disposition, the three elements that mark the classic', and this composition from about 1913 has all the clarity and conviction which he admired in the best European still life painting, whether of the 17th or 19th Century, French, Dutch or Spanish. He confidently uses sharp contrasts of light and shade and above all richness of colour to organise the elements of the painting. The simplicity of this almost timeless composition allows the artist to intensify areas of pure colour - red, black, yellow, white. As he wrote, 'the palette is the instrument on which the painter plays his harmony'.

E.C.