The Red Sail

Artist John Duncan Fergusson (Leith, Scotland, 1874 - 1961)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

Dimensions64 x 79.4cm
Frame Size: 80.1 x 95.4cm

AcquisitionThe Scottish Arts Council Bequest, 1997.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG014396

Keywords

About MeIn this late painting, Scottish Colourist J.D. Fergusson shows how his association with the Fauvists, a group of artists including Henri Matisse who employed intense, pure colour, affected his work.

Fergusson settled in Paris in 1907 and soon afterwards his work changed radically. He abandoned the subtle tonality that American artist James McNeil Whistler had made fashionable and instead began to paint using bold colours and simple, flattened shapes. Even in this late work, that was probably painted after Fergusson settled in Glasgow, the lasting influence of Fauvist art remains clear.

Whether painting on the Côte d'Azur or on the West Coast of Scotland Fergusson imbues his paintings with colour, light and a sense of gaiety that was to characterise much of his work and ensure that it remained perenially popular.