Cassis

In 1913 Peploe spent his first summer in Cassis with his wife, baby son, Anne Estelle Rice and John Duncan Fergusson. All three fell for the charm of this picturesque Provençal harbour town. This view of Cassis Church, composed as a series of superimposed planes, is reminiscent of Fergusson's work in Royan. The paint is applied with varying degrees of thickness, creating a three-dimensional surface. By contrasting the dark vegetation with the pale tones of the buildings and the sky, Peploe successfully captured the light cast by a cloudy summer day in south-eatern France. This ability to extract the essence of a landscape in all atmospheric conditions is one of Peploe's greatest qualities. Peploe was so enamoured with Cassis that he returned with Cadell in 1924 and alone in 1928.

An oil of identical subject matter to the present work with a slight variant to the orientation of the view of Cassis Church is held in the collection of the Hunterian Art Gallery, catalogue number GLAHA 43997 (illustrated, exhibition catalogue, Scottish Colourists from the Hunterian Art Gallery and The Fleming Collection, London, Fleming Collection, 2003, p. 34, no. 9).