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Lot Essay
'The key to an understanding of Hunter's work during the period from his return from San Francisco right up to the end of the First World War is that his artistic development must be seen against the background of European art, rather than that of Scotland or indeed Britain.' (B. Smith and J. Marriner, Hunter Revisited: The life and art of Leslie Hunter, Edinburgh, 2012, p. 54.)
Hunter remained in Scotland during the First World War, painting farm buildings, still lifes, streets and harbours. His still lifes from the war years and directly after are invariably realistic depictions, demonstrating his free execution and use of strong colour. They are usually painted against a neutral background with rich colouring and strong chiaroscuro. Kitchen Utensils perfectly typifies his palette at this time: predominantly earthy in tone, enlivened by accents of bright colour and pools of natural light. Smith and Marriner note that is it precisely this combination: 'the arrangement of objects against a dark background to accentuate a structured perspective, combined with sumptuous, often jewel-like richness' that captivated Hunter during the early part of his career (loc. cit.).
The subject matter and composition of the present work recalls the work of Dutch seventeenth-century painters: the pioneers of still life painting and for whom Hunter held great admiration. The formal arrangement of Kitchen Utensils is reminiscent of works by Jan Vermeer, Willem Kalf, Frans Hals and Jan Davidsz de Heem, whose works Hunter undoubtedly saw in Glasgow's Museum and Art Gallery at Kelvingrove Park. In a review of an exhibition of his work at Alexander Reid's Gallery in Glasgow, one critic wrote that 'He has three or four examples of still life that are superlatively strong ... they show a mastery of form and colour that takes one back to the triumphs of the Dutchmen' (Bailie, March 1916, Vol. 88, p. 7). Hunter was particularly inspired by Kalf's earlier still lifes which comprised more modest kitchen objects than the Chinese porcelain and silver vessels which appear in the work of Kalf's later period. Hunter, like Kalf, found items for his paintings in the kitchen of his uncle's farmhouse at Millburn near Larkhall, where he stayed for much of his time before the First World War. Perhaps the most famous painting of this period is Cupboard and Kitchen Utensils, 1914-18 (Tate, London), which like the present lot, features pans and earthenware bowls with vegetables from the farm garden arranged on the kitchen dresser: reassuringly humble and everyday items.
Equally, Schopenhauer, the German philosopher whose views influenced Hunter, considered Dutch still life to be the best type of painting, because it was able to help the viewer to see beauty in ordinary, everyday objects. 'In trying to render his impressions on canvas, Hunter may have connected with Dutch still life as a good starting point in the development of his subjective approach and this feeling for strong colour' (Smith and Marriner, p. 54).
Furthermore, the direct simplicity and heightened reality of still life objects juxtaposed against plain backgrounds are features that Hunter admired in paintings by the French eighteenth-century artist, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. Hunter would have been able to study three superb examples in the collection of Glasgow University, with the work of the modern French masters being studied assiduously as well. (ibid., p. 55.)
Hunter remained in Scotland during the First World War, painting farm buildings, still lifes, streets and harbours. His still lifes from the war years and directly after are invariably realistic depictions, demonstrating his free execution and use of strong colour. They are usually painted against a neutral background with rich colouring and strong chiaroscuro. Kitchen Utensils perfectly typifies his palette at this time: predominantly earthy in tone, enlivened by accents of bright colour and pools of natural light. Smith and Marriner note that is it precisely this combination: 'the arrangement of objects against a dark background to accentuate a structured perspective, combined with sumptuous, often jewel-like richness' that captivated Hunter during the early part of his career (loc. cit.).
The subject matter and composition of the present work recalls the work of Dutch seventeenth-century painters: the pioneers of still life painting and for whom Hunter held great admiration. The formal arrangement of Kitchen Utensils is reminiscent of works by Jan Vermeer, Willem Kalf, Frans Hals and Jan Davidsz de Heem, whose works Hunter undoubtedly saw in Glasgow's Museum and Art Gallery at Kelvingrove Park. In a review of an exhibition of his work at Alexander Reid's Gallery in Glasgow, one critic wrote that 'He has three or four examples of still life that are superlatively strong ... they show a mastery of form and colour that takes one back to the triumphs of the Dutchmen' (Bailie, March 1916, Vol. 88, p. 7). Hunter was particularly inspired by Kalf's earlier still lifes which comprised more modest kitchen objects than the Chinese porcelain and silver vessels which appear in the work of Kalf's later period. Hunter, like Kalf, found items for his paintings in the kitchen of his uncle's farmhouse at Millburn near Larkhall, where he stayed for much of his time before the First World War. Perhaps the most famous painting of this period is Cupboard and Kitchen Utensils, 1914-18 (Tate, London), which like the present lot, features pans and earthenware bowls with vegetables from the farm garden arranged on the kitchen dresser: reassuringly humble and everyday items.
Equally, Schopenhauer, the German philosopher whose views influenced Hunter, considered Dutch still life to be the best type of painting, because it was able to help the viewer to see beauty in ordinary, everyday objects. 'In trying to render his impressions on canvas, Hunter may have connected with Dutch still life as a good starting point in the development of his subjective approach and this feeling for strong colour' (Smith and Marriner, p. 54).
Furthermore, the direct simplicity and heightened reality of still life objects juxtaposed against plain backgrounds are features that Hunter admired in paintings by the French eighteenth-century artist, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. Hunter would have been able to study three superb examples in the collection of Glasgow University, with the work of the modern French masters being studied assiduously as well. (ibid., p. 55.)