Gari Melchers, a painter and muralist, was born in Detroit, the son of a wood-carver and Paris-trained sculptor. His father sent him abroad at seventeen, but it was not until three years later that he actually reached Paris. After pursuing academic German painting in Dusseldorf, he was delighted by the discoveries of the Impressionists, especially Monet, and their use of light.

He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Lefebvre and Boulanger, and was influenced by Bastien-Lepage and Puvis de Chavannes. Among his friends were Saint-Saens, the composer, and Dumas fils, the dramatist. His first exhibited picture, The Letter, painted in Brittany, was accepted for the Salon. From 1883 to 1909, he lived in Egmond Holland, where he did ...