Victor-Gabriel Gilbert was born in 1847 in Paris, just shortly before the 1848 Revolution which brought about reforms in the Salon system that allowed more artists to introduce new work. Since Gilbert’s parents did not have enough money to send him to the École des Beaux-Arts for training, the typical route for aspiring artists, he instead began working as an apprentice at thirteen to Eugène Adam, a painter decorator. At night he took lessons at the École de la Ville de Paris, which was his only form of official artistic training.  As many of the École des Beaux-Arts ateliers relied on a more rigidly academic form of training and style of painting, his lack of extensive studies may have forced him to look towards daily life for his inspiration. Despite his lack of formal training, Gilbert's admissions to the Paris Salons of 1873 and 1874 were very well received by audiences and critics alike; at this time he was supported by the dealer Paul Martin, who was an important proponent of the Impressionist movement. Gilbert emerged in the early 1880s as the primary Realist painter to record the French marketplace. He achieved considerable success, while firmly establishing his reputation, at the 1880 Salon when he obtained a second-class medal, critical acclaim and a state purchase for his painting entitled A Corner of the Fish Market, Morning. His painting styles encompassed both the naturalist manner of the late nineteenth century and the vibrant technique of plein-air light and brushwork that emerged in his paintings of the early twentieth century. He was honored with a gold medal in 1889 and the Bonnat Prize in 1926. His reputation was confirmed by his nomination to the Legion d'Honneur in 1897.

Gilbert's work is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux.