Victor Gabriel Gilbert

Unlined, isolated areas of very fine craquelure; under UV: one inch spot of inpainting in center sky to right of left building, spot also visible to the naked eye.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Because of its location on the steep Montagne Sainte-Genevièvre,  the rue Mouffetard was spared demolition under Baron Haussman's reconstruction of Paris.  It therefore offers a contrast to the newly formed grand boulevards and expansive bridges that were reshaping the city (see lots 1, 38, 45). With its daily market, it was the perfect subject for the Realist painter, Victor Gilbert, who captured in oil what Emile Zola had perfectly said in words in his 1873 novel, Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris).

Gilbert's most well-known market scenes were set in the famous stalls of Les Halles; he received a second class medal at the Salon of 1880 for his powerful rendering of a fish market. Prior to this, he painted smaller, neighborhood markets, such as this one on the rue Mouffetard, where the shops are identified by very clear storefront signs – charcuterie, épiceries, vins, articles de ménage and faïence.  The most colorful part of the painting focuses on the items that are for sale – the pushcart filled with winter carrots, cabbages and leeks; the outdoor display of rustic Provencal pottery and gleaming white faïence soup tureens and bowls and vibrantly plumed feather dusters and coarse sea sponges suspended from hooks.  A female customer carefully selects the freshest vegetables from the cart of an old vendor, his weather-beaten face and slumped posture revealing a lifetime of hard work.   Pedestrians of all types climb the sharp incline of the rue Mouffetard, but none more obvious than the young, red-haired boy wearing a white apron. He stares directly at the viewer as if posing for his portrait in Victor Gilbert's snapshot of Paris on a cold and rainy day.