French school. 19th century.  “Woman knitting”. Oil on panel. There is a handwritten dedication at the top, in which we read: “A MON VIEL AMI PIERRE GAILHARD. NOUVEL AN”. (To my old friend Pierre Gailhard. New Year). 26,5 x 19,3 cm.  The recipient of the gift of this painting, Pierre Gailhard, was a French opera singer and theater director, born in Toulouse in 1848 and who died in Paris in 1918, Gifted with a remarkable bass voice, he made his debut at the Opéra Comique and later at the Paris Opera, of which he was director from 1884 to 1891 and from 1893 to 1907. He later became the director of the New York Conservatory.