A surprise find from abroad – we had no idea where this lovely early Douglas MacDiarmid landscape watercolour was painted when a Scottish collector sent a photo in the hopes of having it identified. That distinctive high-roofed structure was the best clue, and the style, mood and colours suggested it dated from the late 1940s to the mid-50s.

We put out a call among Douglas’ social media friends and followers, and back came a bundle of great ideas, each of which was researched from photographs and descriptions to narrow down the location. Was it Scotland, London, Paris or New Zealand??A keen-eyed New Zealand collector with a similar painting, who is familiar with Paris parks from her travels, suggested a couple of popular places with high topped buildings. And there it was…this painting is almost certainly set in the lovely Parc Montsouris, across the road from the vast residential complex Cite Universitaire, where Douglas lived in 1948 during his first English school teaching assignment in Paris. In his spare time he walked everywhere and painted prolifically.

No longer untitled, the watercolour can now be known as ‘Parc Montsouris, Paris’, 1948. This park is in the 14th arrondissment, on the southern edge of Paris, and is one of the largest green spaces in the city.

One piece of the jigsaw leads to another…the Highland connection. It is most likely that this gentle scene was originally given to one of Douglas’ favourite Scottish cousins, Isabel, Lucy and Anna MacKenzie. In his early days abroad, before settling permanently in France, he sometimes lived with cousin Isabel in West Hampstead, London. During that time frame he made regular visits to Edinburgh and their ancestral home, Dunvegan, and Uiginish House, on the Isle of Skye – from which Douglas’ mother’s Tolme family originated – and gave them gifts of paintings.

Douglas was elated by his sense of connection in Scotland. The rugged landscape “seizes me so gladly”, and he loved to hear the rolling burr of his surname ‘MacDeermid’ on Scottish lips. London always seemed very dreary and crowded after a visit to the highlands.