Overview
Charles Gruppe was born in Picton, Ontario and later moved to Rochester, New York. He had no formal training as an artist when he was young, but nurtured his innate talent through sign making. At the age of 21 he went to Europe, where he stopped his travels in Holland and remained there for twenty years. In the Netherlands he painted portraits, interiors, farms, boats, fisherman and coastal waterways. He was very taken by the landscape of the Netherlands and he is primarily known for his depictions of this landscape. With subtle draftsmanship, his work became so identified with the Dutch School of painting that he was elected to the exclusive Pulchre Studio, a highly unique honor for an American.
Memberships
American Federation of Arts
American Watercolor Society
Art Club, Philadelphia
National Arts Club, New York
New York Watercolor Club
Pulchre Studio, Netherlands
Rochester Arts Club
Salmagundi Club
Exhibitions
National Academy of Design; 1891-1899
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art; 1892, 1895-1904, 1909-1910, 1925
Boston Arts Club; 1892-1909
Rouen Exhibition, Paris (gold)
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Exhibition Paris et Provence (gold)
Philadelphia Art Club (gold)
St Louis Exposition, 1904 (medal)
Appalachian Expo, Knoxville, 1910 (medal)
Detroit Museum of art, 1911
Art Institute of Chicago, 1917 (prize)
Salons of Americans
Society of Independent Artists, 1937-1940
Museums and Public Collections
Art Museum, Rouen, France
Brooklyn Museum
Butler Art Institute
Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Massachusetts
Dayton Art Institute, Ohio
Detroit Art Institute
Joslyn Memorial Museum
Maryland Institute, Baltimore
Memorial Gallery, Rochester, New York
Museum, London, Ontario
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
National Arts Club, New York
National Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
Oglethorpe University Museum, Georgia
Parthenon, Nashville, Tennessee
Queen of Holland Collections
Reading, Pennsylvania Art Museum
Rouen, France Library
St. Louis Art Museum
San Diego Museum of art, California
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Springville Museum of Art, Utah
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Alberta, Canada