Cliff Top Cottage (oil on panel)

Fergusson's early works were influenced heavily by the French Impressionists whose works he had the opportunity to view at firsthand in the Parisian galleries during his trips there in the late 1890's and early 1900's. He shared their preference for working outdoors in a naturalistic, yet atmospheric palette. Fergusson recalled, 'Before we met, Peploe and I had both been to Paris ... We were very much impressed with the French Impressionists, whose works we saw in the Salle Caillebotte and in Durand Ruel's Gallery. Manet and Monet were the painters who fixed our artistic direction'. On his death in 1961 Fergusson left the largest collection of his works in existence to his partner, Margaret Morris (1891-1980). In 1963 she established the JD Fergusson Art Foundation, who subsequently gifted the entire collection, archive and copyright to Perth and Kinross District Council in November 1991.