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Lot Essay
The present work depicts Richard Gallo seated in the parc Monceau. Gallo was born in 1849 in Alexandria, where his father was a banker, and came to Paris in 1869 where he began a career as a journalist with Constitutionnel. Caillebotte and Gallo became friends soon after his arrival and Caillebotte produced three other known portraits of him in 1878, 1881 and 1884 (Berhaut nos. 107, 182 [Kansas City, Nelson-Atkins Museum] & 305). Gallo was to remain a keen supporter and friend of many of the Impressionists.
Gallo holds a copy of the daily Paris newspaper Gil Blas. Founded in 1879, Gil Blas would often champion the works of the 'naturalist school' by serialising their latest works, most notably those of Emile Zola throughout the 1880s. Caillebotte would certainly have felt an natural affinity with such a progressive publication. From 1891, a weekly supplement entitled Gil Blas illustré printed stories, poems and songs by celebrated writers, illustrated by such artists as Forain, Van Dongen, Villon and, most famously, Steinlen.
Gallo holds a copy of the daily Paris newspaper Gil Blas. Founded in 1879, Gil Blas would often champion the works of the 'naturalist school' by serialising their latest works, most notably those of Emile Zola throughout the 1880s. Caillebotte would certainly have felt an natural affinity with such a progressive publication. From 1891, a weekly supplement entitled Gil Blas illustré printed stories, poems and songs by celebrated writers, illustrated by such artists as Forain, Van Dongen, Villon and, most famously, Steinlen.