A Charmed Couple: the Art and Life of Walter and Matilda Gay

New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000. First edition (presumed; no earlier dates stated). 239 pages: illustrations (some color); 28 cm; bibliographical references (pages 228-229) and index. Fine in near fine sgently spine-sunned jacket in near fine dust-jacket. Hardcover. ISBN: 9780810945616

"This book, richly illustrated with Walter's paintings and excerpts from Matilda's diary, creates an intimate glimpse of a lively social scene that virtually disappeared during World War I." "Walter Gay painted interior views. As a respected artist, he exhibited regularly and counted among his friends many significant figures in the Parisian art world. The Gays loved to surround themselves with antiques and works of art, and they were active collectors." "Matilda Gay was a powerful force in the fashionable social circles of her time and entertained lavishly in the Gays' large Paris apartment and at their enormous chateau near Fontainebleau. Like many of her friends, Matilda kept a journal, in which she described parties and personalities, but her observations were unusually perceptive and often highly amusing." "The author, William Rieder, has deftly woven Matilda's witty comments and Walter's stylish pictures together with descriptions of their friends and family into a book that breathes life into this long-lost world, "--Jacket. Contents: Prologue. May 1945 -- Walter and Matilda Gay -- Matilda Travers and Walter Gay -- Walter Gay, Genre Painter -- Walter Gay, Painter of Interiors -- Matilda Gay, Diarist, Hostess, Wife -- Paris -- The Country -- Travel -- The Gays as Collectors -- Friends and Acquaintances -- Edward Robinson -- Ralph Curtis -- John Singer Sargent -- Lord Ribblesdale and Lady de Grey -- Elsie de Wolfe, Bessie Marbury, and Anne Morgan -- Edith Wharton -- Henry James -- Jacques-Emile Blanche -- Egerton Winthrop -- Henry Adams -- Alfred Sommier -- Comte de Vogue -- Comtesse Robert de Fitz-James -- Marquise de Ganay -- Paul-Cesar Helleu -- Bernard Berenson -- Madeleine Lemaire -- Comtesse de Pourtales -- Pierre Decourcelle -- Nelie Jacquemart Andre -- Geoffrey Dodge -- Henry Clay Frick and Helen Clay Frick -- The Later Years -- The Great War -- The Post-War Years -- Memoirs of Walter Gay -- The Last Years. Biography. Expatriate painters -- France -- Biography. Expatriate painters. Painters. Painters' spouses. Named Person: Gay, Walter, 1856-1937. Gay, Matilda, 1855- Gay, Matilda, 1855- Gay, Walter, 1856-1937 Gay, Walter, (1856-1937) Gay, Matilda, (1855- )