Lot 1621
SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE, RSA (1871-1935)
THE YELLOW TUTU: STUDY OF A SEATED DANCER
Signed, charcoal and coloured pastels
56 x 35.5cm.
Provenance: A gift from the artist to his sister in law; and thence by descent to her grandson
* Peploe's formal training began at the Edinburgh College of Art in 1893 and he continued in Paris at the Academie Julian and the Academie Colarossi in the following year, staying in the city until 1896. The influence of French art upon his work was apparent from these years of study and although Cezanne, Chardin and Courbet are often cited as his major sources of inspiration, the technique and subject matter of Degas is immediately obvious in these two works. Peploe never forsook the French strain in his work and visited France on many occasions, often in the company of his fellow Colourist John Duncan Fergusson.
Upon his return to Edinburgh in 1896, Peploe established a studio at Shandwick Place before moving to Devon Place in 1900. He remained there for five years before relocating to occupy Sir Henry Raeburn's former studio at York Place in 1905.
These are undoubtedly early works by Peploe and it is possible that they may be dated to 1895-1905. Although he produced sketches in oil, Peploe's surviving works on paper are less common and usually take the form of quick ideas or simple studies. Fully resolved signed pastels are rarer still and it would seem that fewer than half a dozen such examples have surfaced at auction in the last 25 years. Furthermore, the unbroken provenance of these two pastels in the artist's family adds appeal.
