Eugène Galien-Laloue was born in Paris in 1854. Born Eugène Galiany, he changed his name to Galien-Laloue by way of a tribute to his father Charles Laloue, a set designer, whom he studied under. Galien-Laloue made his debut at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1887, where his work was instantly acknowledged by his contemporaries, as well as the public. Galien-Laloue is famed for his highly evocative and popular Parisian street scenes, which usually depict an autumnal or winter scene in the French capital. Characterized by bustling crowds mingling before the city’s monuments and streets teeming with horse-drawn carriages, trolley cars and the city’s first omnibuses, his paintings of the early 1900s accurately capture the Paris of La Belle Époque. As such they are valued for both their artistic merit and their historical documentary value. In addition to his more typical city scenes of the sidewalks and avenues of Paris, Galien-Laloue also painted the landscapes of Normandy and Seine-et-Marne, as well as the military scenes he was commissioned to produce in 1914. The Republic of France selected Galien-Laloue to work as a war artist, both during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War, during which time he worked chiefly in watercolour. Contractual obligations with galleries led Galien-Laloue to variously sign his more personal work under the different pseudonyms L. Dupuy, Juliany, E.Galiany, Lievin, Paul Mattig and Dumoutier. Galien-Laloue’s work features in the distinguished museum collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Louvier; Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Rochelle; and Mulhouse, France.