George Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931) A street corner, Paris 32.7 x 28.5 cm. (12 7/8 x 11 1/4 in.)THE LEYDEN COLLECTIONGeorge Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931)A street corner, Paris signed 'G Leslie Hunter/Paris' (lower right) and faintly signed 'G Leslie Hunter' (lower left)pastel32.7 x 28.5 cm. (12 7/8 x 11 1/4 in.)ProvenanceArthur Leyden and thence by descentThe style of signature and inscription is datable to circa 1907. For comparison, see Austerlitz Paris, coloured chalk, signed and dated 1907, Glasgow Museums No.U.121.f.01, one of two dated drawings from the same period.Among the group of young artists who founded San Francisco's California Society of Artists in 1902 were Hunter and his friend, Blendon Campbell (1872-1969). Campbell told Hunter's biographer, Dr T.J. Honeyman of Hunter's enormous energy and industry: "His passion for making sketches, many of which were intended to serve as notes for more complete pictures, made the others look like playboys. None of them felt that Hunter was wasting his energy, for they sensed something big in his work as well as in his personality." (T.J. Honeyman, Introducing Leslie Hunter, Faber & Faber Ltd, London, 1937, p.56)Street, Paris, a rare survivor from Hunter's first trip to Paris after his move to Scotland in 1906 appears to be the first purchase Arthur made. Unmistakably it shows that sense of something big in Hunter's work, with its intuitive pictorial harmony, mood and texture.