SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE RSA
1871 - Edinburgh - 1935
Ref: CD 138
The White Strand, Iona
Signed lower left: SJ Peploe
Oil on canvas: 20 x 28 in / 50.8 x 71.1 cm
Frame size: 29 ½ x 37 ½ in / 74.9 x 95.2 cm
In a gilded Whistler style frame
Painted circa 1923-24
Provenance:
Private collection, Scotland
Portland Gallery, London, 1989
Alex Reid and Lefevre, London;
private collection, London, circa 1998
Literature:
EA Taylor, ‘SJ Peploe, ARSA’, The Studio, 15th February 1924, vol.87, no.371, illus. p.66, as Iona Landscape
Country Life, 23rd March 1989, p.132, illus. in colour, as Iona
Philip MacLeod Coupe, Paintings of Iona by FCB Cadell and SJ Peploe, The Heirs of Philip MacLeod Coupe, Malvern 2014, plate 43, p.64, illus. in colour, as The White Strand
In his article on Peploe in The Studio in February 1924, EA Taylor describes the artist as: ‘an exceptionally fine draughtsman, and in his painting technically unsurpassed.’ The article illustrates this painting and goes on to mention, ‘the siren call of early autumn entices him to the ever alluring Isle of Iona.’[1]
This beautiful Iona landscape looks northeast from amongst the rocks at the south end of the White Strand, across the Strait of Storm, between Iona and the small Island of Eilean Annraidh, which is crowned with lush grass and a white sandy beach to the south. In the distance are the twin summits of Ulva, with the hills of northeast Mull beyond. Peploe first visited Iona at the encouragement of his friend and fellow Scottish Colourist, FCB Cadell, after which he rarely missed an annual visit. The artist’s grandson writes that Iona was ‘a sanctuary, where Peploe could enjoy a deep spiritual union with nature. It provided inspiration and enriched the creative process. The whole island was his Mt St Victoire.’[2]
Another painting of Iona by the artist was included in the summer of 1924 in an exhibition of Les Peintres de l’Ecosse Moderne at Galerie Barbazanges, Paris, and was purchased from there by the French Government for the national collection at the Musée du Luxembourg. Critical and commercial success and the advancement of his reception both at home and abroad, enabled the Peploes to purchase their second-floor flat at 13 India Street, Edinburgh in August 1924.
[1] EA Taylor, ‘SJ Peploe, ARSA’, The Studio, 15th February 1924, vol.87, pp.63-64.
[2] Guy Peploe, ‘SJ Peploe: a painter in oils’, SJ Peploe 1871-1935, exh cat, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh 1985, p.14.
