Francis campbell boileau caddell biography of donald

In my last blog, I introduced you to the four painters who would later become known as the Scottish Colourists. In that first blog I looked at the life of Samuel Peploe and today I am concentrating on the life and works of another member of the group, Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell.

Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell RSA (12 April – 6 December ) was a Scottish Colourist painter, renowned for his depictions of the elegant New Town interiors of his native Edinburgh, and for his work on Iona.

Cadell was born in Edinburgh in April His sister was Jean Cadell, who would later become a well-known character actress. As a boy, Cadell showed an aptitude for drawing and was educated at the Edinburgh Academy where he studied art. He remained at the Academy for three years, during which time his exposure to the works of French artists of the time was to have an intense and enduring effect on his paintings.

Whilst he was studying in the French capital he met one of the other Scottish Colourists, Samuel Peploe, and the two soon became friends. The artwork of Peploe, who was twelve years his senior, was to prove to be a great influence on his work.

Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell () was one of a four-man group known as the Scottish Colourists: his wikipedia entry is here.

Cadell returns to Scotland in and, for the first time, exhibited work at the Royal Scottish Academy. The genre of his works was varied. He painted portraits as well as landscapes and also dabbled with mythical subjects, such as his work entitled Mythical Scene which he completed around A year later, in , his mother died and the family returned home to Edinburgh.

That year, Cadell held his first one-man show at the gallery of the Edinburgh picture dealers, Doig, Wilson and Wheatley. Cadell remained in Edinburgh until , with just a brief time away on a painting trip to Venice, a city, which provided him with the ideal setting for his natural aptitude as a colourist. He loved the beautiful architecture and the sumptuous interiors of some of the houses.