Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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P. Hardy-Alan

Nationality: French
Category: materials

Identity:

P. Hardy (later Hardy-Alan), was a manufacturing artists’ colourman and colour merchant in Paris from 1860-1903.

Life:

The firm was listed as Hardy, 1859-1862, P. Hardy, 1865-1868, and Hardy-Alan 1862-1933 or later. The business succeeded that of Madame Picard, 1 rue Childebert, ca 1848-58. It was located at that address from 1859-1868, at 36 rue de Cherche-Midi ca 1868-1908 , and 92 Boulevard Raspail ca 1908-1933. The business had an account with the London colourmen, Charles Roberson & Co., in 1883.

Hardy-Alan was a leading supplier of canvas and artists’ colours, listed in 1862 as ‘fab. de couleurs fines et pour peinture sur porcelaines, pastels, toiles et rentoilage de tableaux…’. Fantin Latour, Eugène Carrière and Carolus-Duran were among his customers. Whistler patronised his shop, and indeed, owed him money (GUW #02026).

Bibliography:

Bottin, Sebastien, Almanach du Commerce de Paris ..., Paris.

The chief source of information is Jacob Simon's website at the National Portrait Gallery, 'British artists' suppliers, 1650-1950 - H', at http://www.npg.org.uk/research/programmes/directory-of-suppliers/h.php

Simon's Sources are given as : Clotilde Roth-Meyer, Les Marchands de couleurs à Paris au XIXe siècle, PhD thesis, Université Paris Sorbonne, 2004, p.416; Kate Lowry, 19th century Artists’ Colourmen in Paris, CD-ROM, 2008; Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 , pp.17, 40; Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent, Yale University Press, 7 vols, 1998 to date, cat. nos 129, 662 for Sargent’s canvases. See also Labreuche p. 293-4.