Craigleith Quarry (oil on panel)

The local surroundings provided a natural choice for Fergusson whilst experimenting with oil for the first time. Although born in Leith, the family moved house three times during the 1890's indicating gradually increasing prosperity. Fergusson's father ran a spirit merchant's business in Cockburn St. Painted from his portable paint box this modest panel uses subdued colour and free brushwork to capture the atmosphere and mood of the quarry on a typically grey, Edinburgh day. Soon Fergusson's palette was to lighten and brighten in response to his growing awareness of the French Impressionists in Paris. 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.