S. J. Peploe – still pulling in the crowds in the Artists' Town
Mary Gladstone reports on another success story from Kirkcudbright
THREE QUARTERS of the way through its four month summer exhibition, Colour: The Palette of S.J. Peploe, Kirkcudbright Galleries have drawn almost 20,000 visitors through their door.
The Lobster. c.1901. Private Collection.
"This is very good," writes curator Amanda Herries, "in the light of such a wonderful(ly hot) summer."
In fact, the Peploe show has been the busiest of all the galleries' exhibitions since its inception in 2018, except for the Galloway Hoard. This display, however, of a collection of Viking-age precious objects, found in the county of Kirkcudbright in 2014, ran for nine months.
The importance of showing Scottish-born S.J. Peploe, famously known as an important Scottish Colourist, is that in addition to being influenced by his contemporaries and artists from the generation that preceded him, he was strongly attracted to what was happening in Paris, where he lived in his 20s, with its Impressionist, post-Impressionist, Fauvist and Cubist movements.
The Yellow Dress. c.1910 Private Collection
"This exhibition "focusing on how he used that Parisian crucible to experiment and how it affected his work," writes Amanda Herries, "is more than overdue. Peploe was a master of so many skills and the legacy he leaves in Scottish art of the 20th century and beyond, is very noticeable. He was a tremendous artist."
Peploe painted around 1,000 works (about the same number as Henry Raeburn, who was the subject of Kirkcudbright Galleries' 2024 summer exhibition and curated by Herries). There are 70 in the show, which is "themed according to genre since the artist was consummate as a landscape and figurative painter as well as his better-known still lifes." The artist's diversity was a surprise. Visitors didn't expect to see so many portraits, like the girl in a hat wearing yellow, seated at a café , and landscapes, such as the stony beach on Iona in a heavily-influenced Cubist style.
Out of these 70 works, many have come from private houses and never been seen before in public. Guy Peploe, grandson of the artist, in his July and August talks at the Gallery stressed that this exhibition would be the only time when the collection could be seen under one roof, as so many come from private lenders.
Remarks in the Galleries' comments book have been positive, most notably the way the works were arranged. "So interesting instead of the usual chronological path… ...the exhibition puts Peploe clearly and understandably in a European context and shows him in a European world rather than a narrowly Scottish one." And "What a way to display Peploe's work to its best advantage, who knew he was so talented across the board."
Donations also fetched a reasonable sum. "Temporary exhibitions like this one," explained Herries, cost £ 90,000." This figure excludes insurance, which is covered by Government Indemnity and the design work, generated by Dumfries & Galloway Council's team. "Few have any idea of the cost of preparing an exhibition and one of the biggest is transport."
Mixed Roses in a blue and white Baluster Vase, Private Collection. c.1922
Following the success of the Henry Raeburn show in 2024 and the present one, Kirkcudbright Galleries aim to put on a major summer exhibition every two or three years, "building on its reputation as a major new venue and encouraging visitors to the region." Almost certainly the Galloway Hoard will return, as it spurred a huge amount of curiosity that prompted new research in the collection.
Another artist, matching (hopefully) the calibre of Henry Raeburn or S.J.Peploe, will be the subject of a Kirkcudbright Galleries summer show in the near future.
Amanda Herries will give an evening talk (6.30pm-8.00 pm) on September 17, 2026 at Kirkcudbright Galleries on Samuel Peploe.
