In the Footsteps of painter Richard Hall

  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....

Moines trappistes; abbaye de Melleray (Loire-Inférieure) Trappist monks Exhibited at the Salon in 1897 Photo: Salon catalogue 1897  Many aspects of Richard Hall's life in the 1890s remain unclear. He reported that he married his cousin Julia Perregaux (in an article written by Mauri R. Hall, her surname is Cornetz) in 1881. She passed away in 1891. The marriage produced son Georges and daughter Agnes. According to the website geni.com they were both born in 1884. As I mentioned in my  blog post about Hall's places of residence, his address was in Le Pouldu in 1890–1893, in Paris in 1894–1896, and in both Nantes and Paris in 1897–1899. I am currently aware of 27 works that Hall produced during those years. Not all of them have photographs. After Hall moved back to Paris, his works were mainly portraits. It was probably then that the development began that led to his successful career as a portrait painter in the following decade. Working in the abbey In an interview with the ...

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 eit...