Jacques Gay (voreppe 1851 - Grenoble 1925) Nomads' Halt At Sassenage. Paris Salon 1885

Paris Salon 1885, no. 1067. Initially a typesetter, then a proofreader, he quickly felt drawn to painting. His first teacher in Grenoble, Firmin Gauthier, a former student of Hébert, died in 1877 at the age of 39. The following year, Gay entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in Gérôme's studio, and by the end of his first year, he was already accepted into the Paris Salon with a self-portrait. He exhibited his works at the prestigious Salon until 1902. In 1874, Hébert, commissioned to design the mosaic decoration for the apse of the Panthéon, asked Gay to transfer the existing designs to the dome. Finding Parisian life unsuitable, he decided to return to his native Dauphiné region. An excellent portraitist and sensitive landscape painter, he nevertheless expresses himself best in genre scenes, particularly in depictions of working-class artisans at their tasks. With great realism, the farmer's son conveys his respect for the world of manual labor. In his paintings, he celebrates the dignity of workers, their skill, and their love of a job well done; he showcases, with great precision, in workshops bathed in natural light, the beauty of their products and the quality of their tools. His wife, who died young, left him a son, Gabriel, who in 1889 founded the renowned watch and jewelry shop on Rue Montorge in Grenoble. The Grenoble Museum holds many of the artist's works.