John Duncan Fergusson

Dieppe – The Artists – Fergusson, John Duncan

This page forms part of a series of pages dedicated to the many artists who painted in Dieppe. A full list of all the artists with a link to their works can be found at the bottom of this page.

John Duncan Fergusson
John Duncan Fergusson

Movement(s): –

John Duncan Fergusson (1874 – 1961) was a Scottish artist and sculptor, regarded as one of the major artists of the Scottish Colourists school of painting.

Fergusson was born in Leith, Edinburgh. He was the first of 4 children. Although he briefly trained as a naval surgeon, Fergusson soon realised that his vocation was painting and he enrolled at the Trustees Academy, an Edinburgh-based art school. He rapidly became disenchanted with the rigid teaching style, however, and elected to teach himself to paint. To this end, he began to travel to Morocco, Spain and France, where he became acquainted with other artists of the day. Amongst them was Samuel Peploe, another of the group of artists who would later become identified as the Scottish Colourists.

In 1898, Fergusson took his first trip to Paris to study at the Louvre. He was highly influenced by the impressionist paintings at the Salle Caillebotte and these were an important influence on his developing style. Later he would also be influenced by Fauvism and the fauvist principles of using colour would become a strong feature of his art.

Fergusson became part of the enormous growth in artistic talent that Paris was home to at the beginning of the twentieth century. There he mingled with artists like Matisse and Picasso in the café society for which the city was renowned. In addition, he and his friend Samuel Peploe regularly painted together at Paris Plage (Le Touquet) and other places along the coast between 1904–9. It was at this period too that he commenced his relationship with the American illustrator Anne Estelle Rice (1879–1959), whom he encouraged to take up painting. She had been sent to Paris to provide drawings for articles on theatre, ballet, opera and race meetings published in the North American magazine and was to figure in many of Fergusson’s canvases.

Click here to read Fergusson’s full bio on Wikipedia.

NOTE: Click on any image below for a bigger version (no new window will open).

1905 - John Duncan Fergusson - Dieppe, 14 July 1905- Night
1905 – John Duncan Fergusson – Dieppe, 14 July 1905- Night

Pourville-sur-Mer

The town of Pourville (population: 1,200) lies against Dieppe on the East. They share a coastline.

1915 - John Duncan Fergusson - The Grand-Hotel, Pourville
1915 – John Duncan Fergusson – The Grand-Hotel, Pourville

TODAY: The Grand Hotel no longer exists

1926 - John Duncan Fergusson - The Road, Pourville
1926 – John Duncan Fergusson – The Road, Pourville
???? - John Duncan Fergusson - Street, Pourville
???? – John Duncan Fergusson – Street, Pourville

John Duncan Fergusson painted mostly in the South of France, but he did paint in a few places in Normandy (a link “” to his art will be displayed when published):

  • Brittany
  • Hauts-de-France
    • Etaples
    • Le Touquet
  • Normandy
  • Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    • Royan
  • Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur
    • Antibes
    • Cap d’Antibes
    • Cassis
    • Golfe-Juan
    • Juan-les-Pins

Dieppe in Normandy was a popular place for artists to come and apply their art. Here is a list, non exhaustive, of the artists that painted in Dieppe.

A link (“⇠”) to the artist’s works will appear when published (a “*” indicates that the artist did not work directly in Dieppe, instead worked in nearby villages):

NOTE: You can subscribe to our new articles by entering your email address in the box on the right column (or at the very bottom of this article) and clicking on the button “Subscribe”.

You will need to check your incoming emails and validate your subscription. If you can’t see an email from us, check your Spam folder. Without validating your email address, you will not get notifications from us. WE WILL NEVER GIVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES TO ANYONE!

Related Posts

  • 96
    Dieppe – The Artists – Montague, AlfredAlfred Montague (1832 - 1883) was a British painter born in London. Not much, if anything, is known about this British artist. Here are his works for Dieppe, Normandy.
  • 96
    Dieppe – The Artists – Jongkind, Johan BartholdJohan Barthold Jongkind was a Dutch painter and printmaker. He painted marine landscapes in a free manner and is regarded as a forerunner of Impressionism. Here is the only painting of his we found which he made in Dieppe, Normandy.
  • 95
    Dieppe – The Artists – Michallon, Achille EtnaAchille Etna Michallon (1796–1822) was a French painter. Michallon was the son of the sculptor Claude Michallon and nephew of the sculptor Guillaume Francin. He travelled to Italy in 1818 and remained there for over two years. Before he had much time to develop what he had learned however, he…
  • 95
    Dieppe – The Artists – Overview and MapHere are all the artists featured on our site that have painted in Dieppe in Normandy. There's a map with one location per artist per city. Use the map to look at all that artist's works of art.
  • 95
    Dieppe – The Artists – Callow, WilliamWilliam Callow was an English landscape painter, engraver and water colourist. He travelled extensively in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, had a large number of pupils, and enjoyed favour with the royal family. Here are his paintings he made in Dieppe, Normandy.
Scroll to Top