John Bulloch Souter (Scottish, 1890-1972), Lament for Spain

Oil on canvas, signed at lower right, retaining antique labels and stamp of Roberson & Co. London to verso, presented in a giltwood frame with gallery plaque affixed at lower center.

Stretcher size 49 x 38 in.; Frame dimensions 55 1/2 x 44 1/2 in.

From the Estate of the late Dr. Larry Bridge, Albemarle, North Carolina

Sotheby's, New York, American 19th and 20th Century Paintings - Drawings and Sculpture - Property of the Estate of Enid F. Goldsmith - Estate of Thomas B. Hess - Saint Louis Art Museum, 20 June, 1985.


John "Jack" Bulloch Souter was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and studied at Gray's School of Art and the Allan Fraser School in Arbroath. He won the Byrne Travelling Scholarship which enabled him to tour Europe. He became a successful portrait and genre painter, with sitters including Gladys Cooper, Ivor Novello, and Fay Compton.

Souter exhibited at Redfern Gallery, the Fine Art Society, Royal Scottish Academy, and the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition where his notorious painting The Breakdown was exhibited in 1926 causing great controversy that led to its removal from the Royal Academy and Souter's reluctant choice to destroy the work.

During World War II, he worked in the Censorship Department as a translator and restored paintings from The Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. Souter spent 26 years working in London, before moving back to Aberdeen in 1952, where he painted until his death. He eventually re-created The Breakdown from his preparatory drawings.

Area of flaking and paint instability to right center and lower right of canvas, light age cracking, scattered fleabites.