Chateau (oil on panel)

This appears to be one of a number of later panels executed outdoors in the manner of Fergusson's earliest experiments with oil . Gone however are the fleeting, sketchy brushstrokes typical of his earlier Impressionist phase, now replaced by drier, more tightly controlled marks that structure the coastal scene. Fergusson sought out places for which he felt an instinctive affinity. Speaking about Paris he revealed, 'I painted in the Luxembourg Gardens, on the quais an barges, I knew boats, I liked the open air and the idea of being in an art school didn't suit me at all. I was attuned to the movement of water and light on water'. On his death in 1961 Fergusson left the largest collection of his works in existence to his partner, Margaret Morris (1891-1980). In 1963 she established the JD Fergusson Art Foundation, who subsequently gifted the entire collection, archive and copyright to Perth and Kinross District Council in November 1991.