GAWAIN, gi'wan, nephew of King Arthur, son of Loth of Orkney, and the most famous hero of the Arthurian cycle. He is supposed to have reigned in Galloway, was dispatched as ambassador to the Roman camp, accompanied Arthur to England and was slain in the battle which took place soon after their landing. Consult Weston, Jessie L., 'The Legend of Sir Gawain' ; id., 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' (New York 1910).
GAY, Delphine. See GIRAIWIN, MADAME DE.
GAY, Edward, American landscape painter: b. Dublin, Ireland, 25 April 1837. His family was compelled to leave Ireland on account of the political difficulties of 1848, and came as refugees to America, settling in Albany, N. Y. As they had become greatly impoverished, the boy never had a day's schooling, but was put to work to earn his living. At an early age he showed great facility in drawing, and some sketches he made on the cellar doors of an office building attracted the attention of James M. Hart and George H. Boughton, who gave him the freedom of their studios. In 1862 he went abroad and studied under Schirmer and Lessing in Carlsruhe, Germany. His first large picture after his return, 'The Suburbs,' was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1872 and resulted in his becoming an asso ciate of that body. At the Centennial Exhibi tion (1876),
Afternoon' won him dis tinction. Of 'Washed by the Sea,' which was purchased by Mr. Layton and presented to the Layton Museum, Milwaukee, George Inness wrote, No greater landscape has been produced in America.° Some years later his 'Broad Acres' was awarded the prize of $2,000 by the American Art Association, New York, and pre sented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 'Mother Earth' which is to hang in the High School, Mount Vernon, N. Y., was exhibited at the World's Fair, Chicago, and the following year received a medal at the mid-winter exhibi tion at San Francisco. One of Mr. Gay's finest paintings, 'The Fields at Eastchester,' also hangs in the High School, Mount Vernon. In the Executive Mansion at Albany hangs 'Where Sea and Meadow Meet,' a painting that has met with much praise. In 1903 he was awarded the Shaw Prize by the Academy of Design for the best landscape in the exhibition, (Mia mus River,' and in 1905 the Inness gold medal for the most meritorious landscape in the Acad emy exhibition. He was made a life member of the Lotus Club for his achievements in art and in 1907 a member of the National Academy. About this time he painted 'Ruins of the Greek Theatre in Taormina, Sicily,' which now occupies a lunette in the Mount Vernon Li brary, and is perhaps the most popular of his paintings. 'Waving Grain' is owned by the Minneapolis Gallery of Fine Arts, (Waste Lands' hangs in one of the rooms of the Mount Vernon Library. 'El Dorado' ; (My Lady's Estate' ;
Happy Summer Fields' ;
side' hangs in the National Gallery at Wash ington, D. C., in the William M. Evarts Col lection. A picture, perhaps not so well known, called (The Grain Field' has been presented to the Public Library at Holyoke, Mass. It pos sesses a compelling quality or soul which at tracts the beholder in a wonderful manner and makes him loath to leave it.
Acropolis at Athens' was painted for Frank R. Cham bers, Esq., and forms a part of the decoration of his library at Bronxville, N. Y.
Mr. Gay sees nature under large and sunny aspects, painting meadows, the flow of rivers, wide orchards in springtime, and great billowy fields of grain in the sunshine or the full light of day. His works have been prominent in the New York Water Color Society, of which he is a member.
GAY, John, English poet and dramatist: h. Barnstaple, Devonshire, England, baptized, 16 Sept. 1685; d. London, 4 Dec. 1732. In 1712 he became secretary to the Duchess of Mon mouth, and two years later, to Lord Clarendon, with whom he went to the Continent. After having made considerable money out of his publications, he lost it in South Sea specula tions in 1720. Four years later his success in drama relieved his money difficulties.. His life was one more or less literary success. In 1713 he published his