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WHYY By 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. ....