Putti Decor Project

Pierre-Victor GALLAND (Geneva 1822 - 1892 Paris)Design for a putticirca decoration 1870red chalk and gray wash25 x 21 cmmonogrammed with the stamp 'PVG' lower left Often nicknamed the "Tiepolo of the 19th century", Pierre-Victor Galland began his training in the office of the architect Henri Labrouste, then he followed the teaching of Michel Martin Drolling and Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri. Very quickly, Galland abandoned academic painting and the presentation of his works at the Salon, in favor of monumental decoration. In 1851, he completed a design for a palace in Constantinople: this event marked the beginning of his main activity: the decoration of private mansions. During the Second Empire, he received important commissions. The Jacquemart-André Museum, the Hôtel de Madame de Cassin, and the Hôtel Cail are just a few of the many examples we could cite. His fame subsequently spread to the United States and then to Russia, where princes and prominent financiers sought him out. During the Third Republic, the artist painted The Preaching of Saint Denis at the Panthéon (1874), the medallions in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne (1886), and then, between 1888 and 1892, he was commissioned to decorate the Galerie des Métiers at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. These were the three largest public commissions given to artists of his generation. Here, the artist presents us with a study of putti, clearly preparatory to a ceiling decoration. These loves are, for Galland, a true iconographic signature, inspired by 18th-century decorations. Unjustly forgotten for over a century, our virtuoso decorator is now on the way to recognition. The exhibition dedicated to him is, we hope, the starting point for a new appreciation of his work by the contemporary public.