Places of residence 1883–1900

Victor Levasseur, Map of France, Atlas National Illustre, 1852
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Places of residence 1883–1900

I have briefly described the stages of Richard Hall's life in my blog post The Forgotten Cosmopolitan. We know that after moving to France, he first lived in Paris and studied at private art schools. He then lived for six years in Brittany, in northwestern France. After the death of his wife, which is known to have occurred in 1891, he lived for eight months in a monastery in Nantes. However, it is not known exactly when he lived in these places.

Addresses

I used the Musée D’Orsay’s database on the Salons in my previous blog post, Memories of the Salons. In addition to that information, the database also contained Richard Hall’s addresses for the years when he had works on display at the Salons. The exception is 1888, for which no address is given. Furthermore, Hall did not have any works in the Salon in 1889, so there is no address information for that year either. Here is a list of Hall's addresses:


Paris:

Year 1883 rue Boissonade, 12
Years 1884-1886 boulevard Arago, 65
Year 1887 rue Saint-Simon, 11

Le Pouldu:
(In 1888 address is not given, but the painting Le voeu; - Bretagne was on show)
Years 1890 - 1893 au Pouldu, par Moélan (Finistère)

Paris:
Years 1894 - 1896 avenue Victor-Hugo, 43

Paris and Nantes:
Years 1897 - 1899: à Paris, avenue Victor-Hugo, 43, et à Nantes, rue La Galissonnière, 3

Paris:
Year 1900 avenue Victor-Hugo, 43

Paris and Le Pouldu

Address records show that Hall initially lived near Montparnasse in Paris. Hall's contemporary, Swedish artist Georg Pauli, writes in his memoirs Pariserpojkarne that the area was popular among young Swedish artists at the time. The area had a rural atmosphere. The young artists formed a close-knit community that supported each other both artistically and financially.

Hall apparently moved to Brittany in 1887 or 1888, as his painting Le Voeu; - Bretagne, was exhibited at the 1888 Salon. From 1890 to 1893, Hall lived in Le Pouldu, on the south coast of Brittany. At the time, it was a small fishing village southeast of Quimper. During the 19th century, Brittany became a popular painting destination among artists. In 1863, a railway line was built to Quimper, which made travel much easier.

One of the most popular places in Brittany was Pont Aven, located 20 kilometers from Le Pouldu towards Quimper. In the 1880s, up to a hundred artists worked there during the summer. Perhaps Hall wanted a quieter environment? However, he was in good company, as Paul Gauguin worked in Le Pouldu in 1889.

Paris and Nantes

In 1894, Hall was once again living in Paris, at 43 avenue Victor-Hugo. This is located near the Arc de Triomphe, right in the center of Paris. Avenue Victor-Hugo became his long-term address, although between 1897 and 1899 Hall had two addresses, the other being 3 rue La Galissonnière in Nantes.

Based on the addresses, it remains unclear when Hall lived at the Melleray monastery. It is located 50 kilometers north of Nantes. Hall's wife, Julia Cornetz, is known to have died in 1991, but works depicting monks were exhibited in Parisian salons in 1894, 1897, and 1898. Based on this information, it could be assumed that Hall stayed at the monastery for the first time in 1893 or 1894, and also lived in Nantes for part of the years 1897–1899. Hopefully, more sources will be found that will provide reliable information.