Émile Schuffenecker
1851–1934 · Post-Impressionist and Synthetist painter, teacher and collector
Claude-Émile Schuffenecker (Fresne-Saint-Mamès, 1851 – Paris, 1934) was a French Post-Impressionist and Synthetist painter, as well as a drawing teacher and art collector. His significance lies less in a distinctive style than in his role as a friend and steady supporter of Paul Gauguin, as the organizer of the 1889 Volpini Exhibition, and as one of the first collectors of Vincent van Gogh's work.
He met Gauguin at the stockbroking firm Bertin in 1872, and the two studied the Old Masters at the Louvre and trained at private Paris academies. Schuffenecker worked with Carolus-Duran and showed at the official Salon, though the jury rejected his paintings in 1882 and 1883. He then turned to the Société des Artistes Indépendants in 1884 and exhibited with the Impressionists at their eighth and final show in 1886. He taught drawing at the Lycée Michelet in Vanves until he left the post in 1914.
His paintings, mainly Breton landscapes, seascapes and still lifes, show the influence of Gauguin's Synthetism, with strong outlines and flat areas of colour. Notable works include Notre-Dame in the Snow (1889), Kelp Gatherers (1888) and the Portrait of Madame Champsaur (1890). Gauguin painted Schuffenecker and his family in 1889, a work often read as a record of strains within the marriage.
His legacy is shared between his association with Gauguin and the debate over his activity as a collector. Ten of his works are held by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. From the late 1920s he was suspected of imitating Van Gogh and of finishing paintings by Cézanne. Later research has not documented forgeries of Van Gogh dating before 1900, although those made afterwards remain unresolved.
Works (3)
Portrait of Jeanne Marie Chazotte, a young woman wearing the traditional dress of the Pont-Aven area in Brittany, France. The record identifies her as a Bigouden woman, a term linked to a regional style of headdress and costume. Dated 1890, the painting belongs to Schuffenecker's Breton production, made when Pont-Aven drew many painters to its community.
Painted in 1889 in oil on canvas, this view shows the Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris blanketed in snow. The scene invites attention to the dark mass of the building set against the white ground and sky. The work is now held in the Fondation Corboud collection.
This oil-on-canvas painting from 1888 shows kelp gatherers working along the coast, with the seaweed as a key motif. It belongs to the landscape genre, where the natural setting and human labour meet. Émile Schuffenecker painted it, and it is held by the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne.
Where to see the work
- Pont-Aven museum Pont-Aven · 1
- Fondation Corboud · 1
- Wallraf–Richartz Museum Cologne · 1
Curiosities
The disputed sunflowers
In March 1987, a vase with fourteen sunflowers attributed to Van Gogh sold at auction for 39.9 million dollars, a record at the time. Some experts claimed it was a forgery by Schuffenecker. The dispute was settled in 2002, when a joint report from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Art Institute of Chicago confirmed the painting's authenticity, while noting that Schuffenecker had restored it and added some touches of his own.
An exhibition without sales
The 1889 Volpini Exhibition was a commercial failure, since not a single work was sold. Nevertheless, it drew the attention of younger artists, among them possibly Edvard Munch, and Maurice Denis visited it. It was organized by Gauguin's group, including Schuffenecker, Louis Anquetin and Émile Bernard, because they had not been invited to the Paris Universal Exposition.
An unusual collection
In 1906, Jean de Rotonchamp, Gauguin's first biographer, described Schuffenecker's collection on the rue Durand-Claye. Alongside works by Gauguin, including some ceramics, it held paintings by Cézanne, several by Van Gogh, ukiyo-e prints and some works by Redon. The inventory remains a record of his interest in modern art.