Oil on canvas laid on artist board, signed at lower right, unframed.

8 x 10 1/4 in.

From the Art Collection of Howard R. Guild, Sr., Boston, Massachusetts, By Descent through the Family
Howard R. Guild, Sr. (1867-1944) was a major collector of etchings by Whistler, Rembrandt, Gallagher, Meryon and Hayden. He held the largest private collection of Whistler prints in the United States until over twenty prints were donated by his grandson, Alden Guild, to the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in the 1990’s. The Hood Museum graciously matted the remaining Whistler prints, which will be offered here at auction in early 2024.

Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Guild became a paper and twine merchant following his graduation form Harvard University. He credited his time in this profession to his love of graphic works. In addition to his donation to Dartmouth's Hood Museum, Guild donated significant works to other major art institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University, Yale University.

Born in Boston in 1869, Gallager studied drawing with the Italian artist, Tomasso Juglaris, and watercolor painting with Samuel P.R. Triscott, making his first submission to the annual exhibitions at the Boston Art Club in 1887. Gallagher attended the Académie Julian in Paris, and later began his career in Boston, working as an artist-reporter for a local newspaper and illustrating textbooks for the publishing firm of Ginn and Company. By the early 1900s, he had established himself as an artist specializing in etchings and watercolors.

Gallagher was a member of the Guild of Boston Artists, the Boston Society of Water Color Painters, the Brooklyn Society of Etchers, and the Chicago Society of Etchers. He won several awards and prizes, including the Logan Prize for Etching at the Art Institute of Chicago (1922) and the City of Boston Tercentenary Medal (1930). Gallagher taught at Boston University. Today, his work is represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Art Institute of Chicago; the New York Public Library; the Boston Public Library; the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.; the Brooklyn Museum of Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.


Canvas has been laid on board (likely in the making); good estate condition, some rubbing to edges.