Fleming Collection
13 Berkeley Street
London
W1J 8DU
United Kingdom
A major exhibition of works by the Scottish Colourist painter Leslie Hunter (1877-1931), covering his life in San Francisco, Scotland, France and Italy.
George Leslie Hunter was the youngest of five children of a chemist in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. The family emigrated to California in 1892 and when they returned to Scotland seven years later, Hunter decided to stay in the United States, moving to San Francisco and adopting the forename Leslie, by which he is known today. The bohemian mood of the period suited him well and in the years that followed he divided his life between California, Scotland and France. According to Bill Smith and Jill Marriner, who have written a new biography of Hunter, he remains misunderstood and is the least appreciated of the four Scottish Colourists. His fellow Colourist Samuel John Peploe said that Hunter's best pictures were as good as Matisse yet his work could be uneven and his life was marred by tragedy and ill health.
The exhibition is sponsored by Lyon & Turnbull, Scotland's oldest firm of auctioneers.