Sometime in 1900 Fergusson became friends with Samuel John Peploe, and the two regularly spent summers painting in Paris together. They both shared similar influences, such as Dutch portraiture and the works of Eduard Manet. Primarily focused on still life and portraiture, but being surrounded the bustling scenes of Paris, he began to focus on women’s millenary, social café scenes and portraits of lovers and friends.

In 1907 he relocated to Paris permanently, where he quickly became influenced by the fauvist movement, which altered the style of his works greatly. He gained a deeper appreciation for the female form, and began using bolder and brighter colours. He thrived in the artistic setting of Paris, rubbing shoulders with great artists such as Pablo Picasso and Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac. In 1908 Fergusson finished his first sculpture, the only Scottish colourist to do so.

He began to sculpt and draw the female form in motion. He sketched for the avant-garde, Ballet Russes in the height of its career. Along with fellow Anglo-American artists, including his partner of the time Anne Estelle Rice, he was a part of the group known as the Rhythmists. The rhythmist movement would affect Fergusson’s work for the rest of his life, and dance would be a reoccurring theme. In 1913 he met his lifelong partner and often business partner, Margaret Morris. An insightful and important modern dancer, her students were a source of inspiration for Fergusson, providing the perfect models for many of his paintings.

In 1913 craving colour, he travelled to the South of France and invited Morris to spend time with him there. Fergusson’s works grew more bold, lively, and jovial while there, but when World War One broke out he moved back to London. Fergusson remained in London with Morris, helping with the Margaret Morris Dance Club, working in his studio, and exhibiting as far as the United States. He then returned to Paris in the 1930’s before eventually settling back in Scotland. Fergusson and Morris would, however, continue to travel to the South of France for the rest of their lives, embracing the scenes of sunshine and warmth into their works.

He quickly found himself in a circle of Anglo-American artists with his new partner Anne Estelle Rice. Rice, whom Fergusson encouraged in a new direction of painting, was originally a journalist from the United States.

Fergusson was the most intellectually inclined of the Scottish Colourists, and became involved in multiple spheres outside of painting. With Rice, and the other members of his new circle, he became the founding art editor of the journal, Rhythm in 1911. The title of which came from a collection of nudes Fergusson painted between 1910 and 1913, which were also being exhibited at the time.

This source of inspiration led his work in a new direction. During the First World War Fergusson began to place more of a focus on sculpting. He worked with a multitude of materials, including stone and wood as well as casting in bronze and brass. Sculpting allowed him to play with the female form in a new way, giving a further sense of life and movement to his female figures.

Although female nudes were not necessarily a topic of controversy, the erotic undertones of Ferguson’s sculpted women caused some critics to look upon them unfavourably. From the fullness of the exposed body to the idealised individual parts, his sculptures were daring but reveal his intense fascination with capturing the multitude of shapes and movements the feminine.

Fergusson was adamant throughout his life, that he was a true Celt. He believed that the Celtic spirit was embodied by the feminine spirit, and his works are closely tied to this belief throughout his career.