Emile A. Gruppé (1896-1978)

Emile Albert Gruppé (1896-1978) was an American painter born in Rochester, New York. He lived the early years of his life in the Netherlands as his father, Charles Paul Gruppe, painted with the Hague School of art and acted as a dealer for the Dutch painters in the United States. The family returned permanently to the States around 1913 when rumblings of World War I were brewing. 

Gruppé studied at the National Academy in New York City and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. His artistic career began in 1915 but was briefly interrupted in 1917, when he spent a year in the United States Navy. From 1940-1970, he ran the Gloucester School of Painting at Rocky Neck, on Smith Cove in Gloucester, Massachusetts. 

He sometimes wintered in Naples, Florida, where he painted tropical scenes. He also wrote books for artists on brushwork, color and technique. Gruppé's painting prices have risen steadily and now exceed most of his peers of the Cape Ann School of Artists. Gruppé was the recipient of hundreds of awards for his art, and he is in the permanent collection of multiple museums in North America.