PAINTING - Louis VIDAL(1831-1892, animal sculptor and pupil - Lot 400

PAINTING - Louis VIDAL(1831-1892, animal sculptor and pupil of Antoine-Louis Barye; became blind in 1853, replacing sight with touch) / Dictated letter signed in his own hand, 3 p in-8, Paris, August 5, 1878, to sculptor Jules Thomas(1824-1905): "They seem to be promising me something for the future, and I'm all the happier for it, as it would be the beginning of an interest in me on the part of the Beaux-Arts department" - "Last year, you offered me a studio in one of the government buildings on rue de l'Université. I believe that with all the great difficulties I have in paying for mine, I would be very happy to obtain this favor in the shortest possible time, which would be next quarter, which would be one more facility for completing my next salon". He announces the dispatch of "the photograph of my tiger" [n.b. several bronzes of tigers and lions by him are known).