Collection: Little Gerard Pierre

Pierre Petit Gérard, born in Strasbourg in 1852, is a French painter from an artistic family, his father being the glass painter Baptiste Petit Gérard. His family heritage naturally steered him towards a career in the arts. He became a student at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he trained under the illustrious master Jean-Léon Gérôme.

During his life, Petit Gérard volunteered for the army twice, first in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, then in 1914 during the First World War. As an army painter, he spent two years at the front, working in particular in Alsace and the Vosges, where his military experiences influenced his artistic work.