It was a case of vibrant colours, good subject and intriguing composition that helped spark a bidding competition for a painting by George Leslie Hunter (1877-1931) at a recent auction in Scotland.
Offered at Ayrshire saleroom Thomas R Callan (20% buyer’s premium) on June 12, The Black Hat was a 17¼ x 13¾in (44 x 35cm) signed oil on board which had been purchased by the vendor at Christie’s in December 1990. Back then the hammer price was £19,000.
It was an unusual work in that it combined a still-life of flowers to the background, brightly coloured fruit to the middle ground and a hatted figure moving from the edge into the foreground.