Spaniard (oil on panel)

It was the Glasgow Boy, the brilliant watercolourist Arthur Melville (1855-1904) who inspired Fergusson's travels to Morocco and Spain in 1899 and 1901 respectively. The general focus of Fergusson's works at this time is on the careful orchestration of tonal values within a limited colour range, as here. In keeping with other of his small early oils, the treatment of this portrait head is bold and uses broad, fluid brushwork to capture the essence of the personality portrayed. Exotic themes and locations attracted Fergusson throughout his career, with Paris and the south of France providing future bases for him. 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.