Ferdinand Gueldry’s best known painting is the The Blood Drinkers, done in 1898, in which a line of pale and languid women queue up in an abattoir for a glass of warm ox blood, with their anemia likely caused by menstrual losses. Gueldry studied at the École des Beaux Arts and later at the Académie Julian in Paris. A scholarship allowed him to travel to numerous European countries. He mainly painted oils of working class, historical and water sports scenes. In 1908 he was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor and in 1915 became the official painter of the Museé de l’Armée in Paris. At the end of the 1930s he emigrated to Switzerland. Born into a wealthy family, like his brother Victor he was also an avid rower, a hobby that became one of his main painting subjects. Gueldry was one of the first members of the Société Nautique de la Marne. An international referee in that sport, Gueldry had several opportunities to cross the Channel towards England and participate in the famous Henley Regatta. In 1912 he took part in the paintings category in the art competitions at Stockholm. The large number of his representations of boating scenes make it impossible to narrow down the work for the art competitions.
France