George Leslie Hunter (1877-1931)

George Leslie Hunter was born at Rothesay on the Island of Bute on the west coast of Scotland in 1877 but emigrated with his family to California in 1892. Always keen on drawing and sketching, Hunter made his living as an illustrator while teaching himself to paint. By 1904 he had saved enough to finance a prolonged visit to Paris. He was aware of the exciting artistic developments underway in France and was anxious to experience things at first hand. Hunter's first visit to France was instrumental in his decision to become a painter rather than an illustrator but any indication of the immediate impact of it on his work disappeared when the paintings in his first major exhibition were destroyed in the...