PROVENANCE:
With Aitken Dott & Son, where acquired by a private collector, probably in the early 1920s
Thence by descent

Having been urged by J. D. Fergusson, Peploe moved to Royan, France in 1910. The move contributed to a dramatic volte face from his previous style of painting. His palette became stronger and by 1911 his brush strokes were shorter and bolder - leaving the paint surface in furrows. The rich impasto and the angular, almost cubist, construction of the composition in this painting is typical of Peploe's painting style from 1911-1913. Guy Peploe described it as a period of 'intense experimentation and tremendous energy' .

A critic praising Peploe's work at the Society of Scottish Artists in 1912 described his style as cubist. The paintings produced in France were well received and Peploe was given an exhibition at the Stafford Gallery in London. The summer of 1913 was spent in Cassis with Fergusson and Anne Estelle Rice. The outbreak of war the following year brought this period of youthful experimentation in the dazzling light of the Cote d'Azur to an end.

The paintings Peploe produced from 1911-1913 are some of his most ambitious works.