HISTORIC Scots paintings are expected to raise over half a million pounds for charity.
An auction is set to take place for the four paintings crafted by Samuel Peploe and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell at Bonhams in Edinburgh on Thursday.
The paintings were crafted during the 1920’s and 1930’s by Peploe and Cadell, two of the four renowned Scottish Colourists, and are expected to collectively sell at over £650,000.
The four Scottish Colourists were a selection of painters distinguished in style by their colourful creations influenced by time spent in France and contemporary movements.
Peploe’s Still Life with Geranium will be on offer at Bonhams’ annual Scottish Sale, with the expected £250,000 price tag being donated to the charity Amnesty International.
Peploe’s Red Rose is also expected to go for a further £100,000-150,000, potentially forming a combined total of £400,000 for the charity.
Cadell’s work will be raising funds for Médecins Sans Frontières with his Still Life with Oranges, Lemons and an Apple and his Still Life with Ranunculus are being auctioned for £100,000-150,000 each.
May Matthews, Bonhams’ Scottish Art specialist said: “These are four wonderful archetypal Colourist paintings.
“Peploe’s Still Life with Geranium, in particular, is an important and rare example of his unique and distinctive style, as he broke away from tradition to occupy a position at the forefront of Modernism in Britain.”
She continued: “It is suffused with his signature use of colour; bold, primary tones, encased with distinctive black outlines, inspired by his time living in Paris in the early 1910s.”
Describing Cadell, she added that he “can lay claim to be the most elegant of the Colourists”, which is “epitomised by Still Life with Ranunculus”.
She said: “The dramatic crop of the painting creates a highly modernist aesthetic and the overall effect of this daringly simplified still life is one of sophistication and elegance.
“It is a privilege to be offering such masterpieces in aid of two very worthwhile causes and we are expecting a lot of interest.”
An exhibition of the works is opening to the public on October 9 and running until October 14, at Bonhams, 22 Queen Street, Edinburgh.
