George Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931) Still life with Candlestick, circa 1928-9 62 x 45.2 cm. (24 7/16 x 17 13/16 in.) preliminary sketch versoTHE LEYDEN COLLECTIONGeorge Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931)Still life with Candlestick, circa 1928-9 signed 'G.L. Hunter' (upper right)oil on board62 x 45.2 cm. (24 7/16 x 17 13/16 in.)preliminary sketch versoHunter specifically signed this painting verso with the addition of 'G' to his name, because to Arthur and his family, he was George.ProvenanceArthur Leyden and thence by descentLiterature & MediaBill Smith and Jill Marriner, Hunter Revisited, the Life and Art of Leslie Hunter, Atelier Books, Edinburgh, 2012, Illustrated Plate 133, p.155Palin on the Colourists, Directed by Eleanor Yule, First aired on BBC 2, 2000; BBC DVD, 2008 BBC Worldwide Ltd. In 1928, Hunter writes from St Paul de Vence to Arthur, hoping to see him while he is in Europe and of plans to visit him in New York:"My dear Arthur,I got a letter from Jeanie today saying you were in Campbeltown. She enclosed your letter and I noticed you were going to Paris and expected to find me there. I am not there at present but at this very charming hotel on hill town some miles from Nice. I'm in love with this country and wish you all could come down here....If it is not too far and you have time, take a run down for a week or two......I hope Marcelle and yourself are enjoying your trip. Am sorry I am not here to meet you and will regret if I don't see you both before you go back....But I'm hoping to go over to New York in the late autumn...I would like very much to have a good long talk about things since I saw you last. Peggy [sic] must be a big girl and forgotten entirely Uncle George.....Well here's wishing you the best of luck Arthur and kind regards to yourself, Marcelle and your mother and if you can manage down here I will be more than delighted.Yours ever, George"In Michael Palin's interview from 2000, Arthur's daughter Peggie says of Still Life with Candlestick: "It was painted in our apartment in New York and you can see the basket, the silver basket...that he just took things right and left, what he wanted to paint."Peggie kept the candlestick, wax fruit and silver basket and they were displayed near the painting, until eventually the basket became the only survivor. In 1929 the catalogue introduction to Hunter's New York exhibition at Ferargil Galleries was written by Hunter's friend from San Francisco days, international journalist, Will Irwin (1873-1948). His warm reminiscences of running into Hunter across the years reinforce the deeply interesting and free spirit that Hunter was to his friends and family. Hunter's assured modern handling of colour and texture animates Still Life with Candlestick above the ordinary and it is a fitting tribute to Hunter's six-month sojourn with Arthur, Marcelle and Peggie Leyden in their New York home.