Ben More from Iona 1924

Samuel Peploe painted 'Ben More from Iona' with oils, building the image through a mosaic of brushstrokes. It's clear that for Peploe, painting was a way of seeing as much as a way of making. Look at the way he lays down the paint: thick and juicy, in these confident strokes. The texture is so present, almost tangible. The rocks in the foreground are rendered with these abrupt, angular marks, but they somehow evoke the softness of light falling across the landscape. The violet shadows that carve out the volumes of the rocks draw my eye in particular. They are like a secret language, communicating the way light shapes our experience of the world. It reminds me a little of Cezanne’s mark making. Of course, Peploe brings his own energy, creating a Scottish scene that feels both solid and fleeting. It's this tension, this embrace of ambiguity, that makes the work so engaging.