Pierre-Victor Galland

Pierre-Victor Galland was a decorative artist born in Geneva, Switzerland on July 15, 1822 of French parents and died in France in 1892. He is believed to be one of the initiators of Art Nouveau which I believe is well demonstrated in the flower drawing below.

According to La peinture décorative au XIXe siècle l’oeuvre de P.-V. Galland by Henry Havard, Galland may have been as young as 10 years old when his father began to teach him everything he knew about drawing, engraving and modeling. At the age of 15, Galland and his father paid a visit to Ciceri’s house. The visit left a bad impression on his father as he stated that he would never step foot into Ciceri’s house again. The father was happy to see his son take a post with Henri Labrouste, the architect. Labrouste professed that wisdom begins when you can view anything of importance to your profession as not being disagreeable.

After two years with Labrouste, Galland discussed his ambitions to become a decorative painter. Labrouste did not want Galland to give up on architecture so quickly but voluntarily allowed him to study painting. In 1840, Galland enrolled at the Drolling studio. In 1842, he found some success in his painting and so the following year he approached Ciceri. This marked his departure from Drolling, who understood his student’s ambitions and, although saddened by his departure, did not insist that he stay. The French Revolution (1848) caused a downturn in the demand decorative work. In 1851, Labrouste recommended Galland as the interior decorator for the Dolmabahce Palace along the Bosphorus strait in Turkey. Gallant became exhausted after 18 months of ceaseless labor and the doctor recommended that he return to Paris to rest. Instead Galland traveled to Italy. It is in Italy that he discovered that the work he had done at the palace was destroyed when his employer fell out of favor with the Sultan. Galland had sent some of his work and drawings to Labrousse, Cicero and Sechan and so still had some record of this project.

In 1854, he is hired to create works which Mr. Charles Muller manages. These are the busts for the Emperor and Empress. His first encounters with Muller were not favorable as Galland recounts: “Muller writes that he finds my work cold and says that it has taken me a great deal of time to arrive at such a mediocre result”. He seeks the advice of his friend Dieterle who advises him to treat the flowers in a more decorative way.

This year he also marries Mathilde. She encourages him to start a journal which is does. He continues to keep a journal until her death in 1883.

Please leave a comment if you need more details about this artist and his works.