Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, R.S.A., R.S.W. (1883-1937)

Of all the landscape views painted by the Colourists it is perhaps Iona which is one of the most characteristic. In the present lot we can clearly see Ben More in the background, the highest mountain on the Isle of Mull. Cadell was the first of the Colourists to visit Iona, in the summer of 1912. Sailing with a friend around the Western Islands in Scotland, he was immediately captivated by the remote, beautiful island - enchanted by the deserted white sandy beaches and rocky shores, the sea which changed with the weather from turquoise and azure blue to dark green and grey, and the views, which altered every time he looked at them. For Cadell, Iona provided the perfect retreat from the tensions and pace of life in Edinburgh, and he visited the island almost every summer for the following twenty years.

In 1919, Cadell returned to Iona after the war and persuaded his friend Peploe to join him, thus beginning a decade which saw both artists make many visits to Iona and complete many hundreds of paintings of the island. The artists would often sit side-by-side painting an identical view, and whilst they quite naturally influenced each other they also brought to the same subject their different styles and approaches.