Overview
Walter Gay (January 22, 1856July 13, 1937) was an American painter noted both for his genre paintings of French peasants, paintings of opulent interior scenes and as a notable art collector.
Early life
Walter Gay was born on January 22, 1856, in Hingham, Massachusetts, into an established New England family. He was the son of Ebenezer and Ellen Blake (née Blood) Gay. His uncle was the Boston painter Winckworth Allan Gay, who introduced the young man to the art community.
Career
In 1876, Gay and his wife moved to Paris, France, where he became a pupil of Léon Bonnat. A fellow student during this period was John Singer Sargent with whom Gay developed a friendship. Bonnat encouraged the young artist to travel to Spain, where he studied and copied the work of Velázquez. He also encountered the work of Spanish artist, Mariano Fortuny. These artists became an important influences on Gay's brushwork, use of color and understanding of light. He was one of the few artists selected to represent the United States at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. He became an Officer of the Legion of Honor and a member of the Society of Secession, Munich. His students who went on to have illustrious careers include: Henry Bacon. His first compositions were still lifes, followed by depictions of 18th-century French peasant life.
Later he shifted to genre scenes of realistic depictions of peasants and factory workers. However, beginning around 1895, he abandoned such simple peasant scenes, virtually creating a new genre with his depictions of luxurious interiors. He is most noted for these paintings of opulent interiors show-casing French chateaux and chic private homes. These painterly works display the luxurious detail of domestic interiors which included fine porcelain, furnishings, gilt mirrors, paintings and focused on the "spirit of an empty room" by avoiding the inclusion of figures. Gay was also a notable art collector. Following his death in 1937, his widow donated some 200 works of Dutch, Italian, English and French paintings, drawings and illustrations to the Louvre, indicating something of the collection's importance.
Personal life
studio, c. 1884–1894, albumen print by Edmond Bénard, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, D.C. He married Matilda E. Travers, the heiress daughter of William R. Travers, a prominent New York City investor and co-founder of Saratoga Race Course. His wife's fortune allowed the couple to live very comfortably. They divided their time between their country homes and their Paris apartment. In Paris, Gay and his wife lived in an apartment on the Left Bank and, in 1907, purchased Chateau Le Bréau on a walled park near the Forest of Fontainebleau. His wife maintained a diary of the couple's time in Europe. Walter Gay died at Le Breu Dammarys les Lys, near Fontainebleau on July 13, 1937. His widow remained at their home in France which was taken over by German officers following the German occupation of France during World War II.
A virtual prisoner in her own home, Matilda Travers Gay died there in 1943.
Awards and recognition
Gay was created Chevalier Legion of Honor in 1894; Officer Legion of Honor in 1906 and a Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1927. He was also awarded the honor of Life fellow Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Selected works
Works by Gay are represented in many of the world's most prestigious art museums, including: the Luxembourg Museum, the Tate Gallery (London), and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Metropolitan (New York), the Art Institute, the Frick in Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Brussels, Pinacotheca Museum, Munich, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Albright Art Gallery and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France. * Geraniums, n.d., before 1890 * Hollyhocks, n.d. before 1890 * The Spinners, 1885 * Les Tisseuses (The Weavers), 1885 * Novembre, Etaples, c. 1885 * The Knife-grinder, c. 1888 * Charity, 1889 * Benedicite (The Blessing), 1889, Museum at Amiens, France. * Las Cigarreras (Cigar Makers, Seville), n.d., c.
1890 * The Music Room and Dining Room of Eben Howard Gay's House, Boston, 1902 * La Commode, 1905 * La Chaise-Longue (Room in the Chateau de Bréau, near Paris), c. 1905 * The Chinese Screen, after 1909 * The Artist's Study, Rue de la Universite, 1910 * The Open Window - Le Breau, 1910 * The Green Salon, 1912 * Salon of Comptesse Robert de Fitz-James, 1913 * Blue and White Dining room of Mrs Josiah Bradlee, Boston , 1913 * Le Grand Salon, Musée Jacquemart-André, c. 1913 * Feu de Cheminée dans un Intérieur, n.d. * Boudoir, Chateau de Chaalis, 1914 * The Ethan Frome Kitchen, 1922 * The Living Hall, 1928
Gallery
File:Walter Gay - Charity.jpg Charity, 1889, Private collection File:Walter Gay - Interior of Palazzo Barbaro, Venice.jpg Interior of Palazzo Barbaro, Venice File:Interior at the Chateau du Breau by Walter Gay.jpg Interior at the Chateau du Breau File:Interior with Fireplace by Walter Gay.jpg Interior with Fireplace File:Walter Gay - La Cheminée.jpg La Cheminée File:Walter Gay - Galerie des Bustes, Chaeau du Reveillon.jpg Galerie des Bustes, Chaeau du Reveillon File:Walter Gay (American, 1856–1937), The Front Parlor, after 1909. Oil on canvas.jpg The Front Parlor, after 1909 File:Interior - Walter Gay.jpg Interior, a watercolor, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art File:The Green Salon.jpg The Green Salon, 1912, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Le Grand Salon, Musée Jacquemart-André.jpg Le Grand Salon, Musée Jacquemart-André, 1913, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
References
*Walter Gay information at Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide published by the Association of Historians of Nineteenth-Century Art ;Specific
External links
*Walter Gay papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution