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Anthony Rullo, who modeled for painter Gilbert Lewis from 1986 to 1996, is the subject of the exhibit, Only Tony, at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Last year, 2020, was supposed to be the year of Gilbert Lewis, a painter who had been steadily working in Philadelphia for a half-century painting portraits, botanicals, and landscapes with little mainstream recognition but a loyal set of admirers in the city’s gay community, of which he was a part.
Lewis was also a fixture at a large downtown art supply store, Blick, where he worked for years. Even if they didn’t know his work, many Philadelphia artists knew they could get a sympathetic ear and some solid advice from Lewis behind the counter at Blick.