George Leslie Hunter

(1877-1931)

Purple Tulips 51 x 40.5 cm. (20 x 16 in.)

Footnotes

Provenance
With Alex, Reid & Lefevre, London
Private collection of Baroness Elliot of Harwood of Rulewater DBE LLD


It was during the 1920's that Hunter was encouraged by his friend and biographer Tom Honeyman to concentrate on painting still-life. Purple Tulips is an excellent example of sophisticated composition and raw feel for the decorative that Hunter developed during the mid-1920's. The bold colours of the vases and starkness of the forms of the fruit, clearly demonstrates his admiration for Matisse. In 1925, Alex Reid Gallery held a critically-acclaimed exhibition of Hunter's work. One critic commented that Hunter's style had evolved "which in its compelling power and decoration and realistic elements is well in advance of anything he has hitherto achieved" (Glasgow Herald, 15 December 1925).

Baroness Elliot of Harwood of Rulewater DBE LLD (1903-1994) was one of the most colourful, political and social figures of the century. Born into a distinguished Glasgow industrial family, the Tennants of St Rollox, her political interest took her to the London School of Economics. In 1934, she married The Rt. Hon Walter Elliot, PC CH MC MD FRS LLD, who was Minister for Agriculture at the time. They made Harwood House their home, on her 4,500-acre Estate in Roxburghshire. This Hunter still life was possibly a wedding present and sat well with the rest of their fine art collection.
"K" Elliot was the first woman to be made a life Peer and speak in The House of Lords. She once commented "Mr. Attlee made me a CBE. Later on, in 1958 the Conservative Prime Minister made me a DBE. I sometimes wonder if I am the only woman to have received honours from both Labour and Conservative parties." In 1954/6/7 she was also represented the UK as a delegate to the United Nations. Other roles included Chairman of the World Refugee Year, the Consumer Council and the Advisory Committee on Child Care for Scotland, as well as President of the Royal Highland Agricultural Society.