Return of the Scottish Colourists

The market for the Scottish Colourists ? Peploe, Cadell, Fergusson and Hunter ? has been making a dramatic comeback since it collapsed in the early 1990s. According to Art Market Research, prices for the four artists have been increasing by an average of 7.5% a year since 1994.

The Scottish Colourists were originally inspired by French artists and were largely responsible for advancing Scottish art into the 20th century. The extensive collection of works, all of which have come from private collections, will encompass a varied selection of landscapes, portraits and still lifes from all the periods of the artist's careers.

Southeby's Scottish sale at the Gleneagles Hotel at the end of August has the finest selection of Colourists for sale for over a decade. The 35 lots of paintings are drawings are expected to make well over £1 million.

Two paintings in particular are expected to attract a great deal of attention. Peploe'sStill Life with a Benedictine Bottle and Fruitis a bold and vigorous oil painting, with an estimated price of £200,000-£300,000, having only sold for £130,000 in 2000.Roses in a White Vase with Fruitalso by Peploe, is one of his most dynamic studies of roses, a flower with which he is particularly associated. The work is estimated at £150,000-£200,000. Throughout his life Peploe strove to paint the perfect still life. Both pieces were executed while he living in Paris at the beginning of the 1900s, a time critics consider to be his most illustrious period.

A rich still life by Hunter demonstrates the heavy influence of Matisse.Still life with Dahlias and Fruitwas painted between 1910 and 1920 while Hunter was living in the South of France. With its loose composition and vibrant colours it is expected to fetch £100,000-£150,000.

The sale will be held Wednesday August 31 at the Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterader, Perthshire, Scotland. 300 Scottish and Sporting works dating from the 19th and 20th centuries through to the present day will be on offer.