John Duncan Fergusson (1874-1961)
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
John Duncan Fergusson (1874-1961)

The Band Stand and Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

Details
John Duncan Fergusson (1874-1961)
The Band Stand and Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
signed, inscribed and dated 'J. D. Fergusson/"The Band Stand"/Princess Street Gardens/Edinburgh/1900' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas-board
12 5/8 x 9 7/8 in. (32 x 25 cm.)
Provenance
with Hazlitt Gallery, London, October 1952.
with Fine Art Society, London, September 1979, where purchased by the present owner.
Exhibited
Edinburgh, L'Institut Français d'Ecosse, J.D. Fergusson, February - March 1950.
London, Hazlitt Gallery, October - November 1950.
Edinburgh, Edinburgh Festival, 1952.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, not only accommodates the Royal Scottish Academy and the National Gallery of Scotland, but also marks the divide between the old and new town in the city. This area was well known to Fergusson who himself was born and raised in Edinburgh.
The depiction of a recognisable landmark in such a distinctive and Impressionist style pays homage to the French Impressionists, whose work Fergusson would have seen on one of his early visits to Paris at the turn of the 20th Century.

Depictions of one's own city and the pleasure gardens within it, was one of the key subjects depicted by the Impressionists. They presented daily life and movement through paintbrush and colour and this was particularly adopted by Fergusson as exemplified in this painting. Short brushstrokes of green articulate the leaves on the trees, the soft pinks and black dashes describe the bodies milling around the park. Fergusson looks down into the city, reminiscent of Monet, making the viewer an on-looker rather than a participant within the scene.

Fergusson painted his home city and Princes Street several times in his career. (see R. Billcliffe, The Scottish Colourists: Cadell, Fergusson, Hunter and Peploe; London, 1989, pls. 4, 5, 6.).

More from The Scottish Sale

View All
View All