37 Facts About Leslie Hunter

George Leslie Hunter was a Scottish painter, regarded as one of the four artists of the Scottish Colourists group of painters.

Leslie Hunter spent fourteen years from the age of fifteen in the US, mainly in California.

Leslie Hunter painted a variety of still-lifes, landscapes and portraits, and his paintings are critically acclaimed for their treatment of light and the effects of light.

Except, what Leslie Hunter set out to do was not about light, but to capture the essence of nature through pure colour.

Leslie Hunter's paintings became popular with more progressive critics and collectors during his lifetime and have grown to command high prices since his death, becoming among the most popular in Scotland.

Leslie Hunter was born in Rothesay, at 7 Tower Street, on the Isle of Bute on 7 August 1877.

Leslie Hunter was the youngest child of five, born to William and Jeanie Hunter.

Leslie Hunter was fifteen when he emigrated with his parents and two surviving siblings to California.

Leslie Hunter continued sketching and loved the climate, but showed little interest in farm management.

Leslie Hunter moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 1899 and began making a living primarily as a newspaper and journal illustrator.

Leslie Hunter counted among his friends and acquaintances, journalist Will Irwin, early photographer Arnold Genthe, poet Gelett Burgess, as well as significant literary figures such as Bret Harte and Jack London, all members of the San Francisco Bohemian Club.

In 1902, Leslie Hunter became part of a group of artists that included Maynard Dixon, Gottardo Piazzoni, Xavier Martinez and Arthur Putnam.

Clearly, Leslie Hunter had a completely different artistic exposure compared with others of the Scottish Colourists group, such as John Duncan Fergusson or Samuel John Peploe.

Leslie Hunter was at this stage quite a successful American graphic artist, considering his young age.

In 1904, Leslie Hunter made a visit to Paris, funded by his earnings as an illustrator.

Leslie Hunter was inspired by the numerous artistic experiences there, and became fully resolved to take up oil painting.

Leslie Hunter's oil painting began with still lifes on black backgrounds, influenced by the Dutch style.

In 1908, whilst back in Paris, Leslie Hunter met Alice Toklas, whom he had known previously in San Francisco.

Leslie Hunter took him to see the art collection at 27 rue de Fleurus, that was being started by Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo Stein.

At the show Leslie Hunter was probably introduced to the Dundee collector John Tattersall.

However, with the onset of the First World War Leslie Hunter was forced to leave Paris and return to Scotland.

Leslie Hunter had become an American citizen in 1906 and conscription was not introduced until early 1916.

Possibly in response to the government's urging able-bodied men and women to help with the war effort, Leslie Hunter moved from Glasgow to his cousin's farm near Larkhall where he worked on the land until the end of the war.

In March 1916, Leslie Hunter held his second one-man exhibition with Reid in Glasgow.

In 1922, Leslie Hunter began to make a series of trips to mainland Europe, where he visited Paris, Venice, Florence and the Riviera.

When Leslie Hunter returned from his first series of trips abroad, in 1922, he settled in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland and, between 1924 and 1927, he remained in Scotland, dividing his time between Fife and Glasgow.

In 1925, Leslie Hunter's work was displayed at an exhibition in Leicester Square in London, along with works by Peploe, Cadell and Fergusson.

Leslie Hunter travelled again to the South of France on a number of occasions between 1927 and 1929, and based himself at Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

Leslie Hunter sent paintings back to Reid to be exhibited in Glasgow and London, but he spent a great deal of time sketching and his output of finished oil paintings was low.

However, shortly after returning to the French Riviera in 1929, Leslie Hunter suffered a severe breakdown, forcing his sister to bring him home to Scotland in September.

Leslie Hunter recovered, and began to paint a number of portraits of his friends, including one of Dr Tom Honeyman, the Director of the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum from 1939 until 1954.

Leslie Hunter hoped to move to the city permanently, as he found it livelier than Glasgow and the art market was more secure.

Leslie Hunter died in Glasgow in the Claremont Nursing Home on 7 December 1931, aged 54.

Leslie Hunter's paintings were popular with critics during his lifetime, and he had successful exhibitions in Glasgow, London and New York.

Many years after his death, solo exhibitions of Leslie Hunter's paintings were still held and, in 1953, the display of a selection of watercolours and paintings in Glasgow attracted numerous visitors.

Leslie Hunter focused for much of his life on landscapes and on still lifes, working in both pen and ink and oil on canvas.

Leslie Hunter particularly strove to capture in his paintings the effects of light, and would repeatedly paint the same objects or locations under a range of lighting conditions.