Robert Hope (1869-1936)

The Golden Apple

This sumptuous Scottish oil painting is by noted artist Robert Hope. It was most recently part of the Paisley Art Institute Collection, formerly held by the Paisley Museum and Art Galleries.  It was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1919 and painted close to this date. The painting is a seated portrait of a woman in profile in a garden. She is holding up a golden apple to a beautiful peacock on the wall behind her. She is wearing a stunning golden dress with blue sash and her auburn hair is up in a bun. The peacock's tail is draped behind her and he is looking back at the golden apple. Yet it is the golden apple that is the focus of attention for the peacock, woman and viewer, an apple selected from red and gold apples in the nearby basket and perhaps offered up to the peacock. The Scottish painter delivers a beautiful exercise in iridescent colours echoing from the woman’s dress, golden with blue sash, to the peacock tail and body colour. The bold brushwork on the whole painting is superb and the vibrant colours are magnificent. This is a stunning painting with excellent provenance from the Royal Scottish Academy 1919 and the Paisley Art Collection and a superb example of Robert Hope's work.
Signed lower left.

Provenance Exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy 1919 no. 225 entitled The Golden Apple.
Paisley Art Institute Collection, formerly held by the Paisley Museum and Art Galleries.
Presented by Alexr. Hope & Isobel Hope Henry, 1937

Click below for link to this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/gallery/new/robert-hope/the-golden-apple