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Lot Essay
George Leslie Hunter, having spent the summer of 1924 painting at Loch Lomond, returned to the area again in 1930-31 when the present work was completed. Hunter had grown tired of Fife and was inspired by the warmer luminosity and colours found on the waters of Loch Lomond, reminding him of his years spent in California at the turn of the century. Here, painting from the edges of the loch, it is considered he produced his most important contribution to Scottish art.
The shores of Balloch, at the southernmost tip of the loch, were dotted with brightly-coloured houseboats, one of which Hunter lived on during a painting excursion. He was particularly intrigued by these water-side dwellings, and produced a series of paintings and studies in oil, as well as watercolour and pencil. Clearly Hunter was happy with the present work, as it is said that canvases that did not meet the required standard, were destroyed by being tossed off the bridge at Balloch.
The present work, dating from circa 1930, shows a lightness of brushwork not seen in the 1924 series, where Hunter had a tendency to overwork the paint. In 1931, the year of Hunter's death, the French Government purchased a Loch Lomond composition from an exhibition in Paris, enhancing his reputation. Comparable examples from the Houseboat series are held in the Scottish Museum of Modern Art in Edinburgh, the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow, and the Aberdeen Art Gallery.
The shores of Balloch, at the southernmost tip of the loch, were dotted with brightly-coloured houseboats, one of which Hunter lived on during a painting excursion. He was particularly intrigued by these water-side dwellings, and produced a series of paintings and studies in oil, as well as watercolour and pencil. Clearly Hunter was happy with the present work, as it is said that canvases that did not meet the required standard, were destroyed by being tossed off the bridge at Balloch.
The present work, dating from circa 1930, shows a lightness of brushwork not seen in the 1924 series, where Hunter had a tendency to overwork the paint. In 1931, the year of Hunter's death, the French Government purchased a Loch Lomond composition from an exhibition in Paris, enhancing his reputation. Comparable examples from the Houseboat series are held in the Scottish Museum of Modern Art in Edinburgh, the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow, and the Aberdeen Art Gallery.