François Gall Lot n° 504

François Gall - Lumière d'Automne, Canal Saint-Martin. Paris 10e.. Oil on canvas. Approx. 81 x 100 cm. Signed lower right. Signed again on the verso of the canvas and titled "Canal Saint Martin, Paris". François (Ferenc) Gall received his first artistic training in the artist colony Nagybánya, the so-called "Hungarian Barbizon". Here he comes into contact with post-impressionist tendencies from France. His two great goals from now on are: Paris and freedom. But first his path leads him to Rome to the art academy. There Gall wins the Prix Hunyadi-Aldobrandini in 1932, enters the Collegium Hungaricum (Villa Medici) and is able to travel throughout Europe. The Galeria Moderna in Rome shows his first longer exhibition with works of socially critical themes, village and street scenes, children's play and circus motifs. In addition, Gall had already made a name for himself as a portraitist by this time. He received numerous commissions for portraits and portrait busts, even from Paris, where he lived from 1936. When he went to his homeland in early 1939 to visit his dying father, he was surprised by the outbreak of war and was drafted into the Romanian army. Only after the end of the war in 1945 is Gall able to return to Paris. Now his motifs evolve from socially critical themes to more cheerful and intimate ones, inspired by his family happiness with the poet Eugénie Chassaing and their three children together. Nudes, dances and children, scenes from Montmarte, Montparnasse or the colorful summer hustle and bustle on the French coast determine his œuvre from now on. In the following years he participated in numerous salon exhibitions, renowned galleries such as Durand-Ruel and Bernheim showed solo exhibitions, which also received international attention. In addition, he advocates for the rights of artists in various associations and foundations and as president of the national artists' union. In 1949 Gall was naturalized in France and received numerous awards, also for his social commitment. State purchases of his works followed, which are now in museums in Paris, Budapest and Boston, among others. Gall was very successful with his characteristic depictions of Parisian life in late Impressionist style. In the view of the Canal Saint-Martin in eastern Paris offered here, Gall captures the serene, sunny autumnal mood of Paris. Currently, Les Montparnos Gallery in Paris is showing works by François Gall in the exhibition "Montparnasse, les boulevards du destin" (until Dec. 22, 2022). With a photographic expertise by Marie-Lize Gall, Paris, dated 15.10.2022. The work will be included in the catalog raisonné in preparation. Provenance: Douglas & Carolyn Middleton, USA; Christie's, New York 9.2.2016, lot 152; private collection, Philadelphia, USA; Sotheby's, New York 5.10.2020, lot 3; private collection, Bavaria. Taxation: differential VAT: Margin Scheme