Walter GAY
Interior scene.
Oil on panel
Dimension: 25 x 20 cm
With frame: 39 x 35 cm
Sold
“He is the master of the allusion, of the half-word, of the learned ellipses, of the reticences, the weigher of the impalpable, the filterer of the ray and the shade in old charming interiors where he is on the lookout for the past and captures the color of Time”. La société nouvelle
Walter Gay’s portrait of a charming turquoise blue salon is warmed by 18th century furniture, woodwork and a Versailles parquet floor. Art objects, paintings, mirrors, statues and porcelain decorate the scene.
As usual, this virtuoso of interior scenes manages to recreate the intimate atmosphere of the place where, with a light and lively touch, he sets the scene with virtuosity.
Walter Gay, an American painter of interior scenes, began his career as a flower painter in Boston until 1876.
In April of that year, he went to Paris, where he studied for three years with Léon Bonnat, who considered him one of his best students. In 1879, he left for Spain, where he discovered Velázquez, who was a real revelation to him. In 1880, he shared a studio with three other Americans on Boulevard de Clichy.
It is his intimate interiors that will make his fame and glory. He is a specialist in luxurious or plush interiors of private mansions and castles (Versailles, Fontainebleau, Chablis, the Carnavalet Museum or his own castle of Bréau).
Under the aegis of J. E. Blanche, he participated in the “Group of 33” and the “International Society” in 1896. He exhibited very regularly at Georges Petit gallery (1905 and 1908), in Chicago (March, April 1914) and at the Charpentier gallery (1923 and 1936). He is a faithful member of the Salon de la Nationale and of the “Société Nouvelle”. He received numerous gold medals (Paris in 1900) and honors (Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1927).
His exhibition in March 1936 was inaugurated by the American ambassador, Jesse-Isidor Strauss, and by the general director of the Beaux-Arts, George Huisman. Louis Gillet of the French Academy prefaces the catalog with great admiration for the painter:
Museums :
– Paris, Musée d’Orsay, Musée du Louvre.
– Boston, Museum of Fine Arts.
– New York, Metropolitan of art.
– Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art.
– London, British museum.
