In the Footsteps of painter Richard Hall

Exposition des œuvres du peintre Richard Hall 6. - 19.12.1897 Cover of the exhibition catalogue Nantes : Imp. G. Schwob, 1897 La bibliothèque municipale de Nantes Richard Hall lived in Nantes and Paris from 1897 to 1899. In Nantes, his address was 3 rue La Galissonnière. From the beginning of 1898, he also had a studio on rue Dobré in Nantes. Both addresses are located in the center of Nantes, about half a kilometer apart. I have written about these places in my blog posts 1890s and the abbey and An Atelier in Nantes . Hall held a private exhibition in Nantes called Exposition des œuvres du peintre Richard Hall from December 6 to 19, 1897. The venue was Galerie Préaubert at 10, rue Lekain. News reports from the time indicate that the art scene in Nantes was rather sparse at the time and Hall's exhibition was considered a significant event. An article about the exhibition was published in a magazine La Revue Nantaise on December 15, 1897. It is located in La bibliothèque municipa...

  Richard Hall: Interiör från Bretagne (Interior. Scene in Brittany), 1888 Oil on canvas, 75 x 93 cm Nationalmuseum, Sweden Photo: Linn Ahlgren / Nationalmuseum     In my blog post, I wrote about Brittany and Le Pouldu during the time when Richard Hall lived in Brittany. I am currently aware of eight paintings that he made while living there. Two of them are located in museums. I will now focus on these works, as high-quality photographs of them are available. The other six works have either been sold at auction, shared on social media, or exhibited at the Paris Salon. Hall himself has said that he sold many of his Brittany-themed works to the United States. Artists who traveled to Brittany were particularly interested in seascapes and the distinctive clothing style of the local population. Nordic artists mostly depicted the region's inhabitants outdoors, working on farms or as part of the landscape. At the same time, they practiced outdoor painting, which required ...

  Source: Hall Richard Pintor [1930s-1960s], British Library   Richard Hall traveled to South America in 1914. His destination was Uruguay, where he painted portraits. That same year, World War I broke out in Europe. In 1915, he moved to Argentina, where he lived until his death in 1942. He continued his active career as an artist, painting portraits and still lifes, as well as working as an illustrator. In 1914, he married Luciana Maria Magdalena Chobard (January 21, 1896 - July 4, 1980). They had five children named Irene, Enrique, Magdalena, Juanita, and Isabel. While living in Argentina, Hall obtained citizenship. Information about Hall's life in Argentina has been preserved in the digitized archive Hall Richard Pintor [1930s-1960s] published by the British Library, which contains newspaper clippings, photographs, images of his works, and a few letters. Unfortunately, some of the information in the materials is incomplete and inaccurate. The Spanish-language blog Fotos Vi...

Mrs. Corby Fox Source: Kotitaide-lehti 08/1909, Jyväskylä University   Richard Hall held a private exhibition at the House of Nobility in Helsinki from October 10 to November 8, 1909. The exhibition was open daily from noon to 4 p.m. The venue was prestigious, located in the administrative center of Helsinki, one block from Senate Square. The exhibition proved popular, attracting a total of 2,675 visitors. It drew considerable attention in the press, with several news articles and reviews being written about it. Hall continued to work during the exhibition, painting three portraits. It seems that he remained in Finland for quite some time after the exhibition, at least until August of the following year. At that time, he wrote a letter from his mother's home in Villa Rauhala with the aim of arranging a visit to Finland for the artist's daughter and her spouse. A good selection of source material from the exhibition at the House of Nobility has been preserved. The National Gall...

Left: W.K. Vanderbilt, photograph circa 1900. Source: Wikimedia Commons Right: Photograph of Richard Hall’s painting Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt. Source:  Hall Richard Pintor [1930s-1960s], British Library   Richard Hall made his definitive breakthrough as a portrait painter in the spring of 1901, when he held a solo exhibition at Galerie Georges Petit. I wrote about the exhibition in the blog post Successful Exhibition in Paris . That autumn, he painted a portrait in Paris of Mr. Vanderbilt, who belonged to one of the wealthiest families in the United States. A year later, in the fall of 1902, Hall stated that he had traveled to New York to paint other members of the family. Writing this article has been exceptionally challenging due to the abundance of conflicting information. The sources include old newspaper articles and the archive Hall Richard Pintor [1930s–1960s] , published by the British Library. The archive was created when Hall, while living in Argentina, sent his p...

Illustration from the newspaper article  L'Éclair 11 May 1901   On Thursday, 2 May 1901, an exhibition of Richard Hall opened at Galerie Georges Petit. Located at 8, rue de Sèze, it was open from 2 PM to 7 PM. The exhibition received extensive coverage in the French press. Thanks to these articles, it’s possible to form an impression of the event, even though I don’t have access to a catalogue or images. The tone of the reporting was influenced by the newspapers’ political leanings: the most detailed review was published by the left-leaning La Dépêche Toulouse, which did not hold back its criticism. The article describes the exhibition in great detail, helping to reconstruct what works were likely on display. Georges Petit was one of the most renowned gallery owners in Paris. Archives from his business have been digitized and available in French National Library’s Gallica service . However, I wasn’t able to find materials related to this specific exhibition, so for now, we don...

Richard Hall in his Paris studio. Undated photograph Source:  Hall Richard Pintor [1930s–1960s], British Library I’ve previously reviewed Richard Hall’s earlier residences in France in the blog post Places of residence 1883–1900 . In 1900, Hall returned permanently from Brittany, and his address was solely in Paris at Avenue Victor-Hugo 43. Once again, I’ve consulted the Musée d’Orsay’s database on the Paris Salons , which lists the artist’s addresses up to 1914. That year also marks the final exhibition for which digitized Salon records are available online. Breakthrough in Paris Hall’s career as a portrait painter took off in May 1901, when he held an exhibition at Galerie Georges Petit in Paris. The show, which featured portraits among other works, received extensive coverage in the French press and attracted a large audience. Following this exhibition, Hall became a sought-after portraitist. It appears that after 1901, he painted portraits during all his travels—which were num...

  Portrait d'un homme, 1897 (Portrait of a Man) Oil on Canvas, 110,2 x 91,2 cm Musée d'arts de Nantes Photo: Cécile Clos / Musée d'arts de Nantes I’ve mentioned in a few earlier blog posts that Richard Hall lived between 1897 and 1899 at two addresses: Avenue Victor-Hugo 43 in Paris and Rue La Galissonnière 3 in Nantes. From digitized newspapers in the French National Library, I found two articles related to Hall’s work in Nantes. They reveal that he held exhibitions there and had a studio at least from the beginning of 1898. In addition to these news articles, this post draws on information from the website of INHA , the French National Institute for Art History, which provides insights into the art scene in Nantes. News Coverage A news item published in Journal le Phare de la Loire on December 23, 1897 , states that Hall’s works were frequently admired in the window display of Laugé, and that he “has just held a very beautiful private exhibition at the Préaubert gallery....