Palmyre Gilles describes her father’s artistic approach

Palmyre Gilles talks about her father, Albert Gilles, and his artistic approach.

[Palmyre Gilles] My father, Albert Gilles, was born in France, so he had European roots. He was a man who was passionate about his art, about his work. He was a very charming man. Very exacting in what he did. For him, it was all about expressing himself. About expressing himself without constraints.

So, while it was a very impulsive approach, he was always very conscious that when someone commissioned a work, for example, when he worked on churches, and he had the priest or archbishop in front of him ordering something particular, well, for those people, he knew how to adapt, without ever abandoning his own viewpoint. He would say: “I think it might be even better if we did it this way,” or “It would be prettier if we did it that way.” So, he always remained true to his artistic roots.

It’s hard for me to put into words for people who never knew him, but I think there are very few people today who have that aura about them. And that was the sense you got when you were around him: he was someone who was highly educated, very outward-looking.

He fought in World War I, and I think that, too, had an impact on who he was and on his art.