Emile Gruppe (American, 1896-1978), Unloading the Nets

Oil on canvasboard, signed at lower right, inscribed to the verso, framed.

Panel 16 x 20 in.; Frame dimensions 20 x 24 in.

Private Collection, North Carolina

Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina, November 9, 2017, Lot 1226

Emile Albert Gruppé was an American painter best known for his vibrant impressionist landscapes and harbor scenes, particularly those of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Rockport, where he became a central figure in the Cape Ann art community. Born in Rochester, New York, into a family of artists, his father being landscape painter Charles P. Gruppé, he studied at the National Academy of Design in New York and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.

In 1942, he and his mentor John Fabian Carlsen founded the Gruppe Summer School in Gloucester. He later added a second campus in the mountains of Vermont near the village of Jeffersonville in the town of Cambridge. Late in life he began spending time in Naples, Florida.
Gruppe exhibited extensively throughout his life and was honored with awards from The National Academy, The Salmagundi Club, North Shore Arts Association, Rockport Art Association and more.

Yellowing varnish, some rubbing to the frame.