DOI issue:
No. 138 (august, 1908)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28255#0168
Studio-Talk
and to those who have worked so unselfishly with
him to create a palace of beauty for her citizens.
E. D.
PARIS.—At the Georges Petit Galleries a
little while ago Mr. Walter Gay held, a
very remarkable exhibition of his works,
which for a good number of years past
have met with great success at the Salons and at
the exhibitions of one or other society. This
artist, a colourist of exceptional merit, has devoted
himself in particular to the study of interiors and
to giving faithful portraits of them. No one is
more successful than he in delineating the character
of a boudoir, in taking note of the wainscoting, the
stained-glass windows, and everything else which
figures in the decoration of a room. He recognises
that even inanimate objects have, so to speak, a
soul of their own; that a timepiece, an old arm-
chair, or a well-worn table possesses traits in the
same way that the face of a human being does;
and though he never in-
troduces figures into his
canvases, Mr. Gay suc-
ceeds in endowing them
with an intense vitality.
All ihese “ interiors ” of his
are selected with the critical
taste of a painter and the
judgment of an art col-
lector on a large scale (for
Mr. Gay is himself a con-
noisseur of the first order),
and thanks to this we
possess an inestimable
series of the rarest and
most beautiful ensembles of
our time. A corner of
this or that big collection
(Doucet, Groult, de Ganay),
glimpses of palaces,
museums, little old pro-
vincial pavilions—all these
Mr. Walter Gay has re-
corded for us with great
w'ealth of colour; transi-
tory “arrangements” he
registers on his can-
vases, making them live
and endure for ever. For
this much we are greatly
in his debt, and our
descendants will owe him
still more. portraits
IS°
Two other exhibitions which have recently taken
place in Paris call for note. One was a very
interesting retrospective exhibition of portraits of
celebrated men organised by the Societe Nationale
at the Pavilion de Bagatelle. A very fine portrait
of the Due d’Orleans by Ingres, King Louis-
Philippe by Court, his consort by Scheffer, and a
curious series of Orleans family portraits by artists
of distinction in their day—Winterhalter, Deveria,
Dubufe—were among the attractions of this collec-
tion, which was supplemented by a display of
Carpeaux’s sculpture.
The other exhibition was held at the Petit Gal-
leries, and consisted of a loan collection of about
a hundred pastels belonging to the eighteenth
century, which some of the principal collectors
of Paris lent for the occasion. Some really re-
markable works by La Tour, Peronneau, Rosalba
Carriera, Liotard, Mme. Labille-Guiard, Greuze,
Prudhon, were to be seen in this exhibition. H. F.
BY ERNST OPPLER
and to those who have worked so unselfishly with
him to create a palace of beauty for her citizens.
E. D.
PARIS.—At the Georges Petit Galleries a
little while ago Mr. Walter Gay held, a
very remarkable exhibition of his works,
which for a good number of years past
have met with great success at the Salons and at
the exhibitions of one or other society. This
artist, a colourist of exceptional merit, has devoted
himself in particular to the study of interiors and
to giving faithful portraits of them. No one is
more successful than he in delineating the character
of a boudoir, in taking note of the wainscoting, the
stained-glass windows, and everything else which
figures in the decoration of a room. He recognises
that even inanimate objects have, so to speak, a
soul of their own; that a timepiece, an old arm-
chair, or a well-worn table possesses traits in the
same way that the face of a human being does;
and though he never in-
troduces figures into his
canvases, Mr. Gay suc-
ceeds in endowing them
with an intense vitality.
All ihese “ interiors ” of his
are selected with the critical
taste of a painter and the
judgment of an art col-
lector on a large scale (for
Mr. Gay is himself a con-
noisseur of the first order),
and thanks to this we
possess an inestimable
series of the rarest and
most beautiful ensembles of
our time. A corner of
this or that big collection
(Doucet, Groult, de Ganay),
glimpses of palaces,
museums, little old pro-
vincial pavilions—all these
Mr. Walter Gay has re-
corded for us with great
w'ealth of colour; transi-
tory “arrangements” he
registers on his can-
vases, making them live
and endure for ever. For
this much we are greatly
in his debt, and our
descendants will owe him
still more. portraits
IS°
Two other exhibitions which have recently taken
place in Paris call for note. One was a very
interesting retrospective exhibition of portraits of
celebrated men organised by the Societe Nationale
at the Pavilion de Bagatelle. A very fine portrait
of the Due d’Orleans by Ingres, King Louis-
Philippe by Court, his consort by Scheffer, and a
curious series of Orleans family portraits by artists
of distinction in their day—Winterhalter, Deveria,
Dubufe—were among the attractions of this collec-
tion, which was supplemented by a display of
Carpeaux’s sculpture.
The other exhibition was held at the Petit Gal-
leries, and consisted of a loan collection of about
a hundred pastels belonging to the eighteenth
century, which some of the principal collectors
of Paris lent for the occasion. Some really re-
markable works by La Tour, Peronneau, Rosalba
Carriera, Liotard, Mme. Labille-Guiard, Greuze,
Prudhon, were to be seen in this exhibition. H. F.
BY ERNST OPPLER