Francis Campbell Boileau (Bunty) Cadell was born in 1883 in Edinburgh with natural artistic ability and a deep desire to express his love of life through his work.

Apart from the official tuition that he received in Paris at the Academie Julien between 1899 and 1902, the exposure to the powerful forces that were emerging in France at the time and during his subsequent return visits to Paris obviously had an effect on the young artist. He would have clearly seen the Fauve works of Matisse and Derain, for example. The influence of the Impressionists, which could be seen at the Durand Ruel's Gallery and at Salle Caillebotte, was particularly strong and some of Cadell's best early work emphasises the mark that these paintings made on him.

While Peploe and Fergusson spent most of their time in the pre-war days in France, Cadell remained in Scotland, mainly in Edinburgh. Having led a fairly nomadic existence for the previous ten years, there was clearly an attraction in having a permanent base from which to operate. Financial considerations were also important, as friends and patrons were largely from Edinburgh. The result was that Cadell had little, if any, direct contact with progressive ideas about art emanated from Europe generally, and Paris in particular, after about 1910. What contact he did have was mainly through his close friendship with Peploe.

Instead, he concentrated on the subject matter that was at hand. To understand how he found sufficient challenging material in the relative confines of Edinburgh during autumn and spring, and Iona in the summer, (he rarely painted in during the winter), one must understand his character, for the work and the person were inextricably linked. Above all, Cadell was an optimist, who had no interest in the less savoury elements of life. He saw beauty in many forms, and was devoted to using his extraordinary artistic versatility to convey that beauty to others.

The most dramatic change in the style of Cadell's work came after the end of the war. Perhaps in a reaction to the squalor and chaos of the trenches, his still life and interior works took on completely new form. Pure primary colours in a deliberate and well defined structure replaced the looser handling and spontaneity of the pre-war paintings. It is works of this period that confirm Cadell's greatest attributes - his remarkable versatility. Always working with an obvious interest in the quality of the paint, he seemed equally at home with any subject. He painted landscapes, seascapes, figure subjects, cows, sheep, ships and boats with equal facility. Towards the end of his career the angularity of his paintings of the 1920's gave way to an equally colourful but more pattern orientated approach.

Cadell's obituary in the Edinburgh Academy Chronicle referred to him as a great character, a gallant gentleman and a brilliant artist 'who, had he been spared in good health, would undoubtedly have become one of the R.S.A.'s most distinguished Presidents'. Although this was only conjecture, there is no doubt that Cadell's death at the relatively young age of fifty-four deprived the Scottish art world of one of its most charismatic and talented figures.

Portland Gallery exclusively represents the estate of Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell.