Emile Albert Gruppe (1896 - 1978)

The name Gruppe is eternally linked with the world of art. As a whole the family has produced as many if not more successful artists than any other one surname. The family does not appear to have a noted history of rivalry or competition amongst the members involved in the field. However, that recognition in the art realm seems tethered on either critical acclaim or financial success or both, it begs us to ask the question ‘who was the most successful Gruppe artisan’? History has thus far given the nod to Emile Albert Gruppe.

Born in 1896 in Rochester, NY, Emile and his siblings were taken under the wing of their father Charles Gruppe. Charles was already a successful painter of landscapes, seascapes and genre works when his children began to arrive. Under his father’s tutelage Emile fell in love with painting and settled on art as a career before the age of twenty. He would study at the Carnegie Art School, Art Students League and under accomplished painters of Provincetown, Massachusetts and Europe. His time spent in Provincetown led Emile to establishing his permanent studio in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Keeping the family connection alive Emile shared studio space with his brother Karl Heinrich Gruppe, who would become a renowned sculptor. Heavily influenced by the works of Monet, Gruppe developed an impressionist style. He is most noted for his ability to tell the viewer the time of day or season not through color, but rather through width of brushstrokes and density of paint. Popular among his works are the harbor scenes with docked sailing vessels and his village scenes of nearby Rockport. Gruppe was not limited to these uses of canvas as he showed equal skill in capturing the snow filled woodlands of Vermont and the palm tree littered beaches of Florida that he frequented.

In 1942 Emile, with the help of some of the artists he had studied under, established the Gruppe Summer School in Gloucester. His passion for art resonated in his teaching leading Emile to be equally recognized for his accomplishments in both painting and instruction. One of Gruppe’s finest students was his son Robert Charles Gruppe who is still painting today after studying under Emile for twenty years. Emile’s nephew Charles C. Gruppe is also still currently producing paintings with noted success.

Emile Gruppe lived to be 82 years old, painting and teaching right up to the end. The quantity of paintings he left behind is enormous numbering in the thousands. That amount, however, is certainly surpassed by the number of ‘impressions’ he made upon aspiring artists, collectors and fans of art the world over.