MacConnal-Mason, London

 

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting on panel has been quite recently restored and could be hung as is. It is painted on an unreinforced piece of mahogany. The panel is flat and the paint layer is stable. Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no retouches visible and the condition of this picture is beautiful.
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Victor Gilbert received a second class medal at the Salon of 1880 for his powerful rendering of a corner of the fish market at Les Halles.  Throughout the 1880s, Les Halles became the source of his primary subject matter with its colorful vendors, who often appeared to merge with their wares, rang🧸ing from glistening coiled eels to huge slabs of butchered beef slung over the shoulders of burly young men.  In these remarkable images, one could almost smell the mixture of fish, meat, cheese and freshly baked breads, a sensory experience that immediately  crowned Victor Gilbert as one of his 🍰generation's most celebrated Realist painters. 

Prior to his Les Halles paintings, Victor Gilbert also focused on French markets, but of the smaller neighborhood variety.  In the present picture, which is characteristic of Gilbert's market scenes from the 1870s, he shows us a winter scene, identifiable by the leafless trees in the square and especially by the abundance of winter vegetables, such as the giant cabbages spread out on the ground and the mosaic of leeks and carrots on th🌟e table. The customers carefully choose the freshest hibernal produce, destined to be transformed into hearty winter soups, while the vendors appear to wait for the market to finish, while also looking forward to enjoying a bottle of red wine.