George Leslie Hunter (1877-1931)

Roger Bilcliffe (op. cit., p. 45) considers that 'one element which particularly distinguishes Hunter's work from that of his fellow Colourists is its freedom and verve. Throughout the 1920s Fergusson, Peploe and Cadell all moved towards a tightened, less fluid handling of paint and a narrower range of colours. In contrast, Hunter's painting became more and more energetic. He attacked every new canvas, pouring emotion, impatience and enthusiasm into each fresh work, sometimes learning little from the last. This energy, impetus and violence almost, was too often uncontrollable and Hunter often missed the mark because of hurried decisions and rash brushwork. When hand, eye and imagination come together - no matter how fortuitous it might seem or look - Hunter was rarely equalled. Peploe, the most rational of the Colourists and not a man given to exaggeration, could favourably compare Hunter's painting to that of Matisse. Hunter probably looked for no greater praise'.

He comments of the present work that 'a very painterly handling has lifted this still-life out of the usual format. It is one of the more ambitious and successful of the paintings from the first half of the decade' (ibid., p. 167).