AT THE MOULIN ROUGE

Painter of figure compositions, figures, portraits, interiors and landscapes with figures, urban landscapes, architectural views, gardens and seascapes; watercolourist.

François Gall studied in Rome at the Academia de Belle Arti while performing manual jobs. In 1930 he obtained a grant from the Hungarian government and settled in Paris in 1936 where he trained with Devambez at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He was influenced by the French Impressionists and specialised in painting young, pretty Parisian girls, whom he observed in every situation of their busy day, from their private life, across typical Parisian scenes, in the bustle of the cafes or in the world of theatre and dance, as far as at the beaches and at the fashionable horse races. Alongside his painting, he had important administrative roles in the arts. He became an Officier des Arts et des Lettres and was awarded a gold medal for distinguished services by the French government. Since 1936, Gall featured in numerous collective exhibitions in Paris including: the Salon des Artistes Français (winning awards and medals), the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon d’Automne, the Salon des Peintres Témoins de leur Temps, the Salon du Dessin, the Salon de Peinture à l’eau and the Salon Comparaisons. He also participated at many exhibitions outside Paris and abroad. Solo exhibitions include the Durand-Ruel Gallery in Paris (1949), the Marlborough Gallery in London and the Touraine Art Gallery in New York (1953). He also won the Francis Smith Prize in 1963.