IONA THROUGH THE EYES OF CADELL AND PEPLOE-A STUDY BY PHILIP MacLEOD COUPE

Those who are interested in the work of the Scottish Colourists will know that Iona was much painted by Peploe and Cadell.Thanks to them it must be one of the most intensively painted spots in Scotland.These two fine artists were active chiefly in the inter-war years.Cadell  was first to visit -before the Great War in which he served. And Peploe sometimes visited in the winter which Cadell may not have done.What a lovely way to spend your holidays!

This large format, fully illustrated paperback book will give real pleasure  to any reader who cares about these artists and their work.

Philip Macleod Coupe has produced  a guide to their paintings-and in a way a guide also to much of  Iona itself. Not the whole of Iona because of the artists' preferences. He has found the sites and mapped them, confirming convincingly that Peploe favoured the North End and that  Cadell  wandered over much of the island.The south western corner does not apparently figure in their work.

The book has  several outlines  showing the  silhouettes of islands  in the paintings which will be a great help to those who want to orientate themselves vis-a-vis the several islands seen from Iona. There are also black and white photos by Mr Coupe himself of the views as they were recently and some old photographs of the island as it was.In one or two cases paintings are juxtaposed which show Cadell and Peploe painting from almost the same viewpoint. I wonder if they ever painted together in the same way as Cézanne and Pissarro or Cézanne and Renoir. Cadell showed much more interest in the crofts and the life of the island and the steamers which served it in those days. Guy Peploe's introduction reproduces  a droll letter from Cadell to his grandfather.

The most beautiful part of the island is the north end: white sands and beautiful rocks, looking across to Mull....."( *Peploe, p63.)

It was Peploe who confined himself pretty much to pure landscape while Cadell was much more willing to paint the crofts and buildings themselves. In addition Cadell seems to have been the one to make watercolours- a wise tactic as their relatively lower price might have attracted some  custom from visitors who were less prosperous. Or maybe he had run out of board to paint on, or wanted a change.

Cadell often adds a figure or perhaps a yacht coming through the Sound of
Iona at just the right point of focus/balance in the composition.

Peploe commented on the light of Iona and incidentally hints at some of the difficulties a landscape painter faces:

"We had miserable weather in Iona this year-worst in living memory-gales and rain the whole time. I got very little done. But that kind of weather suits Iona: the rocks and distant shores seen through falling rain, veil behind veil, take on an elusive quality, and when the light shines through one has visions or rare beauty. I think I might prefer it these days to your blue skies and clear distances." (*Peploe p73 .)

It is a matter of great regret that Mr Coupe did not live to see the publication of this labour of love. A painter himself he must have needed his painterly eye to find some of the sites. Some become visible at differing states of the tide and some-as the author demonstrates- have changed since the paintings were made: sand has disappeared from some beaches leaving more stone exposed. Or the machair has extended in some places.

This is one of his Iona landscapes which shows him positioning himself in the footsteps of the colourists-a view towards Gribun and Loch na Keal.

Philip MacLeod Coupe

His family have seen the book through the press. A labour of love for them too, one may be sure. The author's  delight in  the work of these artists shines out. He seems to have been a man of many talents-originally trained as an architect he became a luthier before he became an artist/historian.

The book is not a catalogue or census  of everything the two artists produced on Iona .To attempt such a project would have made the result too unwieldy. There is no evidence that the author set out to produce such a thing. Indeed there may still be Cadells out there unrecognised given his way of disposing of them. Remember the anecdotes that he sold paintings directly from  whatever croft he was renting? According to story a purchaser was shown out the front door but a non-purchaser was shown out the back way by Cadell's manservant. Circumstances such as these explain how artists and collectors lose track of work.

For example, there  are no illustrations of the two fine works by Cadell sold  at  Christies this  26 June 2015. Both originally were in the Service collection. One of them, No194,(£47.000) is very pleasing but the exact site is unspecified. One of the houses has  the same fenestration as Iona Cottage-though that cannot be the subject as it is not near the shore.

Cadell:Sligneach.The white croft has been replaced with a modern two storey building.
In fact the work is annotated, "Sligneach", which is to the south of the pier .

 No 195, ( £62.500) is another landscape in the same sale which is a more typical white sands picture.

 I mention these because I think Mr Coupe's book is infectious. Once you have seen a good group of these Iona paintings you will surely be left wanting more. Further examples can be found in my post here.

Paintings of Iona: Cadell and Peploe,
Philip MacLeod Coupe.With a foreword by Guy Peploe.
Published by:The heirs of Philip MacLeod Coupe. 2014
ISBN 978-0-9928597-0-1

* S  Peploe, 1871-1935: Guy Peploe, Mainstream, Edinburgh and London, 2000.

For a discussion of the technique two landscapes by Cadell in the Fleming-Wyfold collection see my post here

Revised 7/08/15.