‘Paris is simply a place of freedom. Geographically central, it has always been a centre of light, learning and research.’
John Duncan Fergusson (R.B.A) was born in Leith, Scotland, but spent the majority of his career working in France and England. Près De L'étoile, Paris was painted in 1907, the same year Fergusson permanently relocated to Paris. Fergusson initially resided at 18 boulevard Edgar Quinet and later moved to 83 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champes, Montparnasse, in the notorious artists’ quarter. It was here that Fergusson absorbed himself into the artistic circles of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, André Derain and formed a close relationship with the American artist Anne Estelle Rice.
‘I had been accepted by the people I had most respect for. As an artist nothing could be more important.’
Fergusson's t.mes in Paris exposed him to Post-Impressionist influences and the avant-garde techniques of the Fauvists. The skilful manipulation of the vigorous brushstrokes in Près De L'étoile, Paris demonstrates Fergusson’s affinity to Impressionist artists, such as Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse. Fergusson names Édouard Manet and Claude Monet as the ‘painters who fixed our direction.’ (J.D. Fergusson, quoted in, M. Morris, The Art of J.D. Fergusson, 1974, p. 40) However, out of the four artists, it is Fergusson’s relationship to France that was the most enduring.
‘Without their French counterparts and experience, none of the Scottish Colourists would have developed their art as we know it...and for Fergusson, living in France far longer than any of the others, it became the crux of his existence.’
The present work characterises Paris as hub of cultural change, through the rolling rhythm of the bold and colourful brushstrokes across the canvas. This fluid and spontaneous brush work is likely to have been applied en plein air, in the manner of the Impressionists, capturing the energy and excit.mes nt of early-twentieth-century Paris. In 1905, Fergusson stated he was ‘trying for truth, for reality; through light.’ (J.D. Fergusson, quoted in Alice Strang, Elizabeth Cumming and Sheila McGregor, J.D. Fergusson, 2013, p. 15) The fashionably dressed central female figure assumes the position of a flâneuse, wondering and observing the liveliness of the bright city streets. This standing figure draws in a sense of serenity and calmness amongst the busy boulevard. Près De L'étoile, Paris is a celebration of Fergusson’s great love for Paris, combining Fauve enthusiasm for colour with the freedom of Post-Impressionist brushstrokes.
‘I immediately found there, what the French call an ‘Ambience’ – an atmosphere which was not only agreeable and suitable to work in, but in which it was impossible not to work!’