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Lot Essay
The vibrant colours and expressive brushstrokes of Still Life with Anemones, painted in 1931 exemplify the bold style Cadell developed after the First World War. The overall effect is quite different from the impressionistic painting Cadell painted c.1925, for example The Black Hat. After seeing Cadell's first London exhibition at the Leicester Galleries in 1923, the art critic for the Daily Mail noted that '...he has solidified his style. All forms are stated with an assurance that carves conviction...' The Sunday Observer also reported that 'not a trace of the earlier Cadell is left... although his colour has lost none of its charm and harmonious brightness'.
The development of Cadell's style towards paintings of a stronger, brighter colour with a far tighter and almost architectural structure demonstrate the clear influence of Peploe, in particular his still lifes of a similar subject. It was indirectly through Peploe, who spent more time in France, that Cadell became acquainted with the French avant-garde tendencies such as the hatched strokes typical of Cézanne's late work and the bright palette of the Fauves.
The present work shares a similar colour scheme and formal arrangement to many of Cadell's still lifes of this period: the pink china bowl and the unusual thick-stemmed wine glass here used as a vase, appear in his other paintings around this date. The Persian tile was the subject of a painting of 1909 whilst a similarly composed study of Anemones in a Vase was exhibited at Lefrevre Gallery in 1988. Cadell's careful and tasteful placement of objects and flowers is here demonstrated with great intelligence and refinement. The geometric lines created by the books and the diagonals of the table-edge, contrast dynamically with the ornate tile depicting a horseman and the reflections cast on the polished surface of the table.
Still Life with Anemones is a beautiful painting from Cadell's transitional period, combining the rich texture so typical of Cadell's earlier impressionistic works with a tighter structure that looks forward to the stylized interiors, such as Interior: The Orange Blind of c.1927 (Glasgow Museums: Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove) that Cadell painted until the end of his artistic career.
On the reverse of the present picture is a painting of a beach at Iona which Cadell painted over in order to reuse the panel.
The development of Cadell's style towards paintings of a stronger, brighter colour with a far tighter and almost architectural structure demonstrate the clear influence of Peploe, in particular his still lifes of a similar subject. It was indirectly through Peploe, who spent more time in France, that Cadell became acquainted with the French avant-garde tendencies such as the hatched strokes typical of Cézanne's late work and the bright palette of the Fauves.
The present work shares a similar colour scheme and formal arrangement to many of Cadell's still lifes of this period: the pink china bowl and the unusual thick-stemmed wine glass here used as a vase, appear in his other paintings around this date. The Persian tile was the subject of a painting of 1909 whilst a similarly composed study of Anemones in a Vase was exhibited at Lefrevre Gallery in 1988. Cadell's careful and tasteful placement of objects and flowers is here demonstrated with great intelligence and refinement. The geometric lines created by the books and the diagonals of the table-edge, contrast dynamically with the ornate tile depicting a horseman and the reflections cast on the polished surface of the table.
Still Life with Anemones is a beautiful painting from Cadell's transitional period, combining the rich texture so typical of Cadell's earlier impressionistic works with a tighter structure that looks forward to the stylized interiors, such as Interior: The Orange Blind of c.1927 (Glasgow Museums: Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove) that Cadell painted until the end of his artistic career.
On the reverse of the present picture is a painting of a beach at Iona which Cadell painted over in order to reuse the panel.