A Japanese Garden

'This work portrays an aspect of the garden constructed at Westerdunes, North Berwick by Sir Patrick Ford, which Lavery had first painted in 1916. He is known to have returned in 1921 to paint golfing pictures at North Berwick. Ford, his principal patron in Scotland, was extremely proud of the miniature garden at Westerdunes. A child's delight, it contained a pond in which tiny harbours were constructed with small lanterns, bridges and temples. Lavery painted a portrait of Hazel in this setting in 1916, during his visit. In the twenties he and Hazel Lavery were frequent guests at weekend parties. By this stage Ford had an extensive collection of Scottish art, specializing in works by Patrick William Adam, who lived close by at Ardilea and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell. The lush vegetation and enclosed spaces of A Japanese Garden gave the painter ample opportunity to indulge the great sensuality of pigment which characterises the flexibility of his mature style.'
(Kenneth McConkey, private correspondence, April 2000).