Une promenade dans le parc (recto); and A cafe scene, unfinished (verso)

John Maclauchlan Milne was trained in Edinburgh, and yet was described by a contemporary source as being, ‘at once a Scotsman and a European’. This was a result of his frequent visits to France during the interwar period, particularly to Paris and to the coastal towns in the South. Milne was inspired by artists such as Cézanne and Matisse, the landscape and the bohemian culture of Paris, all of which had nurtured the development of European Modernism.

Whilst in France, Milne received a stipend from Keillers, the Dundee marmalade manufacturers, which allowed the artist to continue painting and learning from his contemporaries, ‘The Colourists’, who were also in France during this period. The influence of these ‘Colourists’, Samuel Peploe, Francis Cadell and Duncan Grant, have led to critics terming Milne as ‘The Fifth Scottish Colourist’.

In Une promenade dans le parc, Milne depicts a quintessential Parisienne scene, with a large fountain at its centre. Here, Milne showcases his expressive style through fluid, broad brushstrokes and accents of colour. This painting is indicative of Milne's decisive departure from his earlier more subdued Scottish scenes, to a vibrant style that subsequently infiltrated the remainder of his work. In March 1925, the Dundee Courier wrote that 'A year ago he was painting Scottish fields with soft sunlight and mellow atmosphere. Then Paris seized him, and he gave us canvases splashed with vivid colour, radiating gaiety and the joy of life.’

John Maclauchlan Milne had an international career, exhibiting in New York, at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Glasgow Institute. Maclauchlan Milne was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1937 and continued to show there until his death in 1957.