The Rainbow, a wonderfully fresh and colourful work by the leading Scottish Colourist John Duncan Fergusson, heads Bonhams sale of Scottish Art in Edinburgh on Thursday 3 December. It is estimated at £70,000-100,000.
The Rainbow was painted during Fergusson's 'Highland Tour' which he undertook in 1922 with his closest friend, John Ressich.
Embarking from Glasgow via Milngavie, they headed up the east coast to Aberdeen and then inland to Pitlochry, Loch Ness and over to the west coast, where they sailed around Skye. After heading to the Black Isle, they turned for home via Perthshire. Favourite spots included Loch Laggan, Arisaig and Loch Shiel, and some of his most topographical paintings to date were inspired by locations such as Glen Isla, Killiecrankie and Craig Coinach.
The trip produced 15 paintings which Fergusson worked up from sketches on his return and which were shown in his first solo exhibitions in Edinburgh and Glasgow the following year.
Bonhams Head of Scottish Art, Chris Brickley said, "The paintings from Fergusson's Highland Tour are remarkably positive and uplifting, but The Rainbow may also come as close to symbolism as he ever ventured. The location has never been identified and the work has a 'visionary' quality which at the time was completely unmatched in modern Scottish painting."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
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