George Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931) Tulips 38.2 x 30.8 cm. (15 1/16 x 12 1/8 in.)THE LEYDEN COLLECTIONGeorge Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931)Tulips inscribed by Arthur Leyden 'By Leslie Hunter/about 1910' (verso)oil on canvas38.2 x 30.8 cm. (15 1/16 x 12 1/8 in.)ProvenanceArthur Leyden and thence by descentArthur's purchase of Tulips helped keep Hunter going as he was barely making ends meet. It would be three years before the commercial success of his first exhibition at art dealer, Alexander Reid's prestigious Glasgow gallery, La Société des Beaux-Arts in 1913.According to his friend, New York artist Tom Hunt, Hunter was in complete sympathy with all that was new after his first visit to Paris in 1903 (T.J. Honeyman, Introducing Leslie Hunter, Faber & Faber Ltd, London, 1937, pp.61-62). French modernist, Édouard Manet (1832-1883) was an early hero. Manet broke ranks from the traditional practice where layers of dark varnish were applied to the canvas to model form. On Hunter's return to Scotland in 1906, he was utilising what he understood from Manet's technique to help progress his own. In Tulips, the flowing opaque brushstrokes on a light ground applied in one go, model the form of the vase and flowers. Hunter was not concerned with the strength or effect of light on still life, a characteristic he upheld throughout his life and one which differentiates him, even from his fellow Colourists.In Tulips he focused on the simple shape and direct presence of the vase and flowers. By using sketch-like passages with occasional black outlines similar to those he observed in Manet's later still life, he animates the flowers, captures their natural state and ultimately produces a still life elevated beyond the ordinary.