Émile-Octave-Denis-Victor Guillonnet (French, 1872-1967)

Émile Guillonnet earnt a reputation rendering formal parties in his impressionist style using bright captivating colours and swift brushstrokes. In France he became the official painter of garden parties organised by President Loubet such as the Banquet of Mayors in 1900 (held in the gardens of the Elysée and featuring all the mayors of France). The present canvas set in the gardens of Buckingham Palace captures a similar scene, as portraits of the most noble of society gather around their host, King Edward VIII.
The John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. It was founded by John Wanamaker (1838-1922) who is often described as a ‘pioneer in marketing’ and who served as U.S. Postmaster General. The John Wanamaker Department Store is known for its substantial effects on the development of the retail industry in America, where it was the first store to use price tags. The grand scale of the present pair of paintings seem likely to have been commissioned for the Wanamaker Department Store, which was similarly built on a particularly grand scale. The store, built in the Florentine style, had 12 floors and numerous galleries totaling nearly two million square feet.