Samuel John Peploe RSA

(British, 1871-1935)

The White Strand, Iona

Footnotes

Provenance
The Artist.
Private Collection, Scotland.
Portland Gallery, London.
Alex Reid and Lefevre Ltd., London.
Private Collection, UK.

As a place of deep spirituality and great beauty, for centuries the Scottish island of Iona was a site of religious pilgrimage. And in the early twentieth century, it would become a significant destination for artistic pilgrimage, especially for the Colourist painter Samuel Peploe.

"It was a sanctuary where Peploe could enjoy a deep spiritual union with nature. It provided inspiration and enriched the creative process. The whole island was his Mt St Victoire."
(Guy Peploe, S.J. Peploe, 1871-1935, Edinburgh, 1985, p. 14)

Although his friend and fellow Colourist FCB Cadell first visited Iona in 1912, Peploe's eagerly awaited first visit was not until 1920, at which point he was a mature artist in search of refreshed inspiration. His anticipation is evident in a letter to Cadell written while convalescing in France during World War I:

"when the war is over I shall go to the Hebrides and recover some vision I have lost. There is something marvellous about the western seas."
(Philip Long and Elizabeth Cumming, The Scottish Colourists 1900-1930, Edinburgh, 2001, p. 29)

Indeed, the island, with its quickly changing environment, softly tonal waters and skies, and white sands, would become both an artistic and spiritual sanctuary for Peploe, helping him recover the vision dimmed by the horrors of war. He found endless inspiration in the green, pink and grey rocks at the island's northern end, as well as in the changing light of the sea separating Iona from its nearby islands.

Over time, Peploe's palette, while still rich, shifted from the bright bursts of colour recognisable in his earlier still lifes and landscapes, to become more subdued and contemplative, especially in his depictions of Iona. His biographer, Stanley Cursiter, described the shift:

"His work has a richness and fullness due in great measure to an increased acceptance of the muted harmonies of a quieter and more broken colour. There is no longer the slightest suggestion that the colour was being searched for and accentuated for its own sake, but rather that the whole surface was a web of some rich material in which notes of colour emerge and forms take shape."
(Stanley Cursiter, Peploe: An Intimate Memoir of an Artist and of his Work, London, 1947, p. 81)

Peploe's Iona paintings became immensely popular with collectors during his lifetime, and the island is now closely associated with his name. He worked tirelessly on this beloved continued and continued to visit each summer until his death.

The White Strand, Iona radiates Peploe's happiness whilst painting on the island. This contentment allowed him to extend the barriers of his art - freeing up both his palate and structure. The powerful colours of the sea and sky alongside the contrasting brightness of the sun soaked sand bring this work to life. He loved Iona, and its challenges encouraged an entirely new dimension in his art clearly evident here.

"More than any other place, Iona changed how Peploe worked, giving his art new cohesion and depth."
(Elizabeth Cumming, S.J. Peploe, Edinburgh, 2012, p. 69)