(George) Leslie Hunter


(G.L. Hunter)

1879 - 1931

Painter and landscapes and still-life. Born in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Hunter emigrated with his family for the USA in 1892. He settled in San Francisco and took up employment as a magazine illustrator. He visited Glasgow in 1903, but returned to San Francisco intent on settling there as a professional artist. However, he lost all of his work in the fire which followed the great earthquake that struck the city in 1906 and this precipitated his return to Glasgow. He regularly visited the continent and was influenced by the work of Van Gogh and Matisse. Hunter's particular skill was the manner in which he dealt with light. He became one of a group known as the Scottish Colourists, with F.C.B. Cadell (1883 - 1937), J.D. Fergusson (1874 - 1961) and S.J. Peploe (1871 - 1935). He painted with Fergusson on the French Riviera in 1922. His still-lifes were once described by the Glasgow Herald as "strong and striking in design and gorgeous in their colour harmonies."

His works include Moonlight, Loch Lomond (1924), which can be viewed at the Aberdeen Art Gallery, Reflections, Balloch (1930), in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and The Harbour at Lower Largo one of several works painted while he was based on the Fife coast in the mid-1920s, including various scenes of Lower Largo, St. Monans and Lundin Links. His still-life Kitchen Utensils (1918) can be seen at the Tate Gallery (London) and other works can be seen at the McManus Art Gallery (Dundee) and amongst the University of Dundee art collection.

He died in London.


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