Trees and Cliff (oil on panel)

The special affection that Fergusson felt for his homeland and the significance he latterly attached to his Highland origins, find a parallel in his paintings of the Scottish landscape. Early examples, often on a very small scale and painted direct from life, like this, offered an ideal vehicle for experimentation. Nature was a central source of inspiration to Fergusson. He attributed his fascination to his Highland ancestry and happy memories of holidays spent exploring Perthshire as a boy. According to Morris, '...he never tired of talking of the mountains, the waterfalls, the rivers, the birds and animals'. 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.