Victor Gabriel Gilbert, The Church of the Holy Trinity, Place De La Trinite, Paris, 1890s, Gouache & Watercolor & Paper, Framed

Victor Gabriel Gilbert.
French ( b.1847 - d.1933 ).
L’ Eglise de la Sainte-Trinite, Place de la Trinite, Paris.
Gouache & Watercolour On Paper.
Signed Lower Left.
Image size 15 inches x 11 inches ( 38cm x 28cm ).
Frame size 28.2 inches x 24.2 inches ( 71.5cm x 61.5cm ).

Available for sale from Big Sky Fine Art in the English county of Dorset, this original painting is by the French artist Victor Gabriel Gilbert and dates from the period 1900 to 1920.
The painting is presented and supplied in its original substantial and ornate frame (which is shown in these photographs).
This antique painting is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.
The painting is signed lower left.

Victor Gabriel Gilbert was a highly successful French artist and a key figure in later nineteenth century French art. He straddled the French Realist and Impressionist movements.

Gilbert was born in Paris, 13th February 1847.His natural ability as an artist was acknowledged at an early age, but due to his parents’ limited financial means he was obliged to work from the age of thirteen as an apprentice to Eugène Adam, a painter-decorator. At night he would also take lessons at the Ecole de la Ville, where he received formal training from Pierre Levasseur. He also studied for a period with the painter and lithographer Victor Adam (1801-1866) and subsequently with the landscape painter Charles Busson (1822-1908).

As Gilbert grew up in the highly-charged political atmosphere of Paris this affected his art. He drew inspiration from the urban environment and form the working-class city-dwellers who sold their produce on the streets. He rapidly established a reputation as excelling in market scenes in Paris, with the wonderful colours of fruit, fish and flowers, as well as refined and intimate interiors.

Gilbert first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1873 and 1874. Around this time he became a close friend of Pierre Martin, who owned an art shop on the Rue Lafitte, and who was an important supporter of the impressionist movement. Martin was greatly involved in the promotion of young and promising artists, including Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Gaughon. Thus, Martin secured several of Gilbert’s works for himself and in return Gilbert executed Portrait of Mme. M. which was exhibited at the 1875 Salon. Due to this support and promotion Gilbert was able to devote his time to painting and develop his style and techniques. One of his works exhibited at the 1880 salon earnt him a first medal, and a second-class award; it was also purchased by the State.

Gilbert’s reputation spread, and he began to exhibit regularly at the Societe Artistes Français where he was awarded a silver medal in 1889. In 1926, towards the end of his career, he received the Bonnat prize. Gilbert was elected Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur in 1897.

During his own lifetime Gilbert’s works were sought after throughout Europe and in North America, his works being sold in New York as early as 1900.
Gilbert died in Paris on July 21st, 1935, and is now buried at the Monmartre cemetery in Paris.

Today his works can be found in various prestigious institutions including the the Musée des Beaux- Arts de Bordeaux and the Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, as well as the museums in Bayeaux,; Besancon; Dieppe; Le Havre; Liege; Lille; Nice and Strasbourg.

© Big Sky Fine Art

This most elegant original gouache and watercolour painting depicts the magnificent Roman Catholic Church, L’ Église de la Sainte-Trinité, at the head of the Place de la Trinité, Paris. The huge stone building towers above, with its towers and arches and ornate carvings. In the mid-ground is the square, broad and open and busy with pedestrians. In the foreground we see a modestly dressed lady, selling blooms of colourful flowers from a handcart, and another lady, more finely dressed, who has perhaps just competed her purchase. Other figures are about their business; we glimpse a horse and carriage, ladies in long dresses and parasols, gentlemen in hats and canes. The overall scene is one of pleasant activity in this fashionable area. It is spring or maybe even summer, the trees are green and the sky is blue. It is an uplifting sight!