In the Footsteps of painter Richard Hall

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...

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...