Leslie Hunter
Bute-born Leslie Hunter was 15 when he emigrated to California with his family in the early 1890s. Although untrained, Hunter developed into an in-demand illustrator and was the first artist to illustrate the stories of novelist Jack London.
Following a trip to Europe in 1904 he decided to become a painter but all the new work for his first solo show was destroyed in a 1906 earthquake. He moved to Glasgow and flitted between Scotland and France, studying the work of old masters while keeping a close eye on modern developments in Europe.
Hunter met Peploe around 1918 and they became friends. He trusted Peploe’s honest appraisal of his paintings. In 1919, he declared his maxim for life: “Everyone must choose their own way – and mine will be the way of colour.”