Leon Gaspard

Last updated
Leon Schulman Gaspard
Born
Leiba Schulman

(1883-10-01)October 1, 1883
Vitebsk, possibly Ulla
DiedFebruary 21, 1964(1964-02-21) (aged 81)
Taos, New Mexico
Resting placeSierra Vista Cemetery (Taos, New Mexico)
NationalityRussian-American
EducationYury (Yudel) Pen, Kiriak Kostandi, Marcel Baschet, Edouard Toudouze
Alma mater School of Yury (Yudel) Pen, Odessa Art School, Academie Julian
Known forPainting
Notable workLa Kermesse, Russian Forest, Falconry in Central Asia, Souvenir of Manchuria, San Geronimo Fiesta
StyleRomantic realism
Spouse(s)Evlyn Gasper, Dora Kaminsky
Russian Peasant Parade (1911) Gaspard Russian-Peasant-Parade.jpg
Russian Peasant Parade (1911)

Leon Schulman Gaspard (1 or 2 October 1883 [other sources provide 2 March 1882] - 21 February 1964) [1] was a Russian Empire-born painter, known for his paintings of indigenous cultures and folk traditions. He tended to paint scenes with throngs of people, and his favorite locations were in small towns in Belarus, Russia, Asia, and Taos, New Mexico. [2] He spent his youth in Russia and later studied in Paris, where he became a well-respected painter. He moved with his wife, Evlyn Gasper, to the United States. They eventually settled in Taos, New Mexico, though he continued to devote much of his time to traveling to paint in remote locations. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Gaspard was born Leiba Schulman, a son of a Jewish carpenter Shmuel Schulman and his wife Cyra Abram. [5] His birthplace was either Vitebsk or Ulla, a small town about 35 miles west of Vitebsk. [6] He pursued art studies in his hometown, Vitebsk. He studied at the school of Yury (Yehuda) Pen, a well-known Jewish-Belarusian artist. From 1899 or 1900 to 1904. Schulman continued his education at the Odessa Art School. [5] In 1905, he departed for Paris and enrolled at the Académie Julian, [7] [8] where he studied two months (May 8 - June 12 and October 30 - November 27, 1905). [9] Despite his later claims that his teacher was William-Adolphe Bouguereau, his mentors at the Académie were Marcel Baschet and Edouard Toudouze. In Paris, he started calling himself Léon Schulman(n).

Personal life

In 1908, Schulman met Evlyn Gasper, a daughter of a wealthy American widow Eugenia Ward who was visiting Paris. She married him despite her mother's' objections, on December 24, 1908, at the civil ceremony at the Mayor's office of the 14th arrondissement of the city of Paris. [10] The couple had another marriage ceremony on July 19 (Julian calendar; August 1, Gregorian calendar),1912, at the Ilyinskaya Russian Orthodox church in Vitebsk, [11] which must have been predated by Schulman's conversion from Judaism to Russian Orthodoxy. In 1911, Schulman started adding his wife's slightly modified maiden name to his own, using several variations: Léon-Gaspar Schulman(n). Léon S. Gaspar, before he settled on the name under which he is known today: Léon Gaspard. Later, living in the United States, he used the French-sounding last name to create a fictional biography, claiming that his father was Maxim Gaspard, a wealthy merchant of French descent, with whom young Léon traveled to Siberia. [3] This new biography required a new maiden name for Evlyn since it could cast doubts on the veracity of her husband's claim. Therefore, she began using the name Adel(l), which was a shortened version of her mother's maiden name, Adelmann.

When the Great War broke out, Gaspard enlisted in the French Army and was seriously injured the following year. [3] Later, the artist claimed that he served as an aerial observer in the fledgling French aviation. [3] This story is disproved by the photograph of Gaspard in the military uniform. [3] [12] In July 1915, he joined his wife in the United States, where she had been living since May 1915. For the next two years, the couple resided in New York before moving to Chicago in 1918. In 1918, they visited Taos, New Mexico. Gaspard was enchanted by the beauty of this little town, nestled at the foot of the Sangre de Christo mountains. They spend the following two summers in Taos before settling there permanently in the fall of 1921. In 1930, they moved into their own house, a whimsical architectural structure that combines features of a southwestern mudbrick house, a Gothic church, and a Russian peasant hut.

Leon and Evlyn made three transatlantic voyages: to Eastern China and Mongolia in 1921, the Middle East in 1926, and to North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis) in 1932-33. Each journey lasted about 5 months, from the day of their departure from the United States to the day of their return. The well-known story of Gaspard's two-and-a-half year-long wanderings through China, Mongolia, and Tibet is untrue. The dates of their departures and arrivals are documented in the contemporary press. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] His last transatlantic journey took place in 1959 when, after Evlyn's death, the artist married Dora Kaminsky. The newly weds traveled to Egypt, Moscow, and Paris. [18]

Gaspard died of a heart attack on February 21, 1964, and, according to his wishes, was buried on his property. A few years later, his widow Dora Kaminsky-Gaspard-Blackman, reburied his remains at the Sierra Vista Cemetery. His name on the headstone is written as "Leon Maximovich Gaspard." ("Maxim" was name of his father in his fictional biography; in reality, it was the name of his godfather that was given to him at the time of his conversion to the Russian Orthodoxy.) [19]

Artistic career

Schulman debuted at the Salon d'Automne in 1906 and since then became a regular exhibitor; [20] he also regularly exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. [21] In 1907 he exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (Salon du Champs-de-Mars) [22] and in three times (in 1909, 1910, and 1913) at the Salon des Artistes Français. [23] [24] Together with his friend Abel Pfefferman (Abel Pann), he exhibited at the gallery Maison des Arts in May 1908. In October, Schulman and Pfefferman traveled to Vitebsk, where they exhibited their works together with Pen and Yanina Pavlovskaya. [25] In February 1908, Schulman exhibited with Pen, Pavlovskaya, and Karl Kahl in Mogilev. [26] He participated in group shows at the gallery Georges Petit (December 1911) [27] and gallery Devambez (June 1912) [28] and had two personal exhibitions - at the gallery Boute in Brussels (May 1912) [11] and at the gallery Salle Arti in Antwerp (November 1912). [29]

After his arrival in the United States, Gaspard actively exhibited his work at personal and group exhibitions, many of them at such prestigious venues at the National Academy of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery, and at the international exhibitions at Carnegie Institute, Till 1921, his dealer was Reinhardt's Galleries that had branches in both New York and Chicago and after 1921 Milch Galleries in New York. Since 1936, he also exhibited and sold work at the Stendahl's Galleries in Los Angeles.

Gaspard found artistic success in Taos, where Gaspard moved in 1918 and remained until his death. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Gaspard continued to paint Russia, and far off places, rather than focus on the local Native Americans and landscape. Though an anomaly, Gaspard's work was respected; in 1961, Gaspard had a one-man show in Taos. His work sold steadily in New York City, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and he was well-known and financially successful. [30]

Posthumous reputation

In 1965, the Museum of New Mexico's art museum held a retrospective exhibition of Gaspard in his memory. [31] In 1967, three years after Gaspard's death, the Maxwell Galleries held a retrospective exhibition of his work. [32] His post-humous reputation began to take shape in 1982, with a retrospective exhibition by the Fenn Galleries in Santa Fe (now Nedra Matteucci Galleries). [33] In November 2013, Nedra Matteucci Galleries held another major exhibition for the artist, Leon Gaspard: Impressions from Russia and the Faraway. [34] The following galleries have also held major posthumous exhibitions: Hammer Galleries, New York (1968), Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe (1984), and Berry-Hill Galleries, New York (1986). [35] Gaspard's work has sold well at auction houses, and in the early 2000s, prices for his paintings increased dramatically. On November 29, 2007, the 1918 painting, The Finish of the Kermesse was sold at Christie's for $2,001,000. [36]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Édouard Manet</span> French painter (1832–1883)

Édouard Manet was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Chagall</span> Russian-French artist (1887–1985)

Marc Chagall was a Russian and French artist. An early modernist, he was associated with the École de Paris as well as several major artistic styles and created works in a wide range of artistic formats, including painting, drawings, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, tapestries and fine art prints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salon des Refusés</span> Art exhibition in Paris, first held in 1863

The Salon des Refusés, French for "exhibition of rejects", is generally known as an exhibition of works rejected by the jury of the official Paris Salon, but the term is most famously used to refer to the Salon des Refusés of 1863.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salon d'Automne</span> Annual art shown in Paris, started in 1903

The Salon d'Automne, or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The first Salon d'Automne was created in 1903 by Frantz Jourdain, with Hector Guimard, George Desvallières, Eugène Carrière, Félix Vallotton, Édouard Vuillard, Eugène Chigot and Maison Jansen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Société des Artistes Indépendants</span> French artists salon and exhibiting space

The Société des Artistes Indépendants or Salon des Indépendants was formed in Paris on 29 July 1884. The association began with the organization of massive exhibitions in Paris, choosing the slogan "sans jury ni récompense". Albert Dubois-Pillet, Odilon Redon, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac were among its founders. For the following three decades their annual exhibitions set the trends in art of the early 20th century, along with the Salon d'Automne. This is where artworks were often first displayed and widely discussed. World War I brought a closure to the salon, though the Artistes Indépendants remained active. Since 1920, the headquarters has been located in the vast basements of the Grand Palais.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rupert Bunny</span> Australian painter

Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny was an Australian painter. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, he achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in fin-de-siècle Paris. He gained an honourable mention at the Paris Salon of 1890 with his painting Tritons and a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900 with his Burial of St Catherine of Alexandria. The French state acquired 13 of his works for the Musée du Luxembourg and regional collections. He was a "sumptuous colourist and splendidly erudite painter of ideal themes, and the creator of the most ambitious Salon paintings produced by an Australian."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe De Nittis</span> Italian painter (1846–1884)

Giuseppe De Nittis was one of the most important Italian painters of the 19th century, whose work merges the styles of Salon art and Impressionism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexei Harlamoff</span> Russian painter

Alexei Alexeievich Harlamov (1840–1925) was a Russian painter, who usually signed his name in the Latin alphabet as Harlamoff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aimé Morot</span> French painter (1850–1913)

Aimé Nicolas Morot was a French academic painter and sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Dabo</span> American painter

Leon Dabo was an American tonalist landscape artist best known for his paintings of New York State, particularly the Hudson Valley. His paintings were known for their feeling of spaciousness, with large areas of the canvas that had little but land, sea, or clouds. During his peak, he was considered a master of his art, earning praise from John Spargo, Bliss Carman, Benjamin De Casseres, Edwin Markham, and Anatole Le Braz. His brother, Scott Dabo, was also a noted painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Schützenberger</span> French painter

René-Paul Schützenberger was a French Post-Impressionist painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauvism</span> Artistic style

Fauvism is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of les Fauves, a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism. While Fauvism as a style began around 1904 and continued beyond 1910, the movement as such lasted only a few years, 1905–1908, and had three exhibitions. The leaders of the movement were André Derain and Henri Matisse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jules Ernest Renoux</span> French painter

Jules Alphonse Ernest Renoux was a French painter working during the height of French Impressionism and the Belle Epoque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salon des Cent</span>

Salon des Cent was a commercial art exhibition in Paris, based at 31 Rue Bonaparte. The Salon sold color posters, prints and reproductions of artwork to the general public at reasonable prices. It was established in February 1894 by Léon Deschamps, founder of La Plume an avant garde literary and artistic magazine. It became known for its exhibitions showcasing the works of contemporary graphical artists. The salon held exhibitions until 1900. Many of the posters advertising Salon des Cent exhibitions have themselves become collectors' items.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Léon Zack</span> French painter

Léon Zack (1892–1980), also known as Lev Vasilyevich Zak, was a Russian-born French figurative and later abstract painter and sculptor. He has been described as a School of Paris painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio García Vega</span> Mexican artist

Antonio García Vega is a Mexican artist and member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. He began exhibiting his work while still in school in the early 1970s and continues to do so, often working with his brother Mauricio García Vega. He works in mixed media to paint various forms of expression. His early work was mostly fantastic, with elements of eroticism but his later work has been darker as a means of expressing his own feelings and moods. His work has mostly been exhibited in Mexico, often in conjunction with other artists including a 2010 exhibition with his brother at various venues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frédéric Samuel Cordey</span> French painter (1854–1911)

Frédéric Samuel Cordey (1854–1911) was a French landscape painter who was a part of the Impressionist movement. He was a close friend of Auguste Renoir, and had a personal fortune that allowed him to work according to his taste, regardless of the publicity and support provided by art dealers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri Beau</span> French-Canadian Impressionist painter

Henri Beau was a French-Canadian Impressionist painter. He is noted for Chemin en été, La dispersion des Acadiens, L'arrivée de Champlain à Québec, and Les Noces de Cana. Beau is a largely forgotten artist due to his long absence from Canada. His widow Marie Beau worked towards establishing his reputation as an artist in Canada after his death. He was only recognized as a notable artist decades later, with major retrospectives of his paintings celebrating his career by the Galerie Bernard Desroches in Montréal in 1974, and at the Musée du Québec in Québec City in 1987.

Mark Tochilkin, was born in 1958 in Dniepropetrovsk in Ukraine, he is a painter and sculptor. Figurative artist, he is best known for his portraits, landscapes and his musicians. The work of Tochilkin is characterized by his technique and the pictorial mastery of his compositions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz Peter Kymli</span>

Franz Peter Joseph Kymli was a painter and portrait miniaturist from Germany, who worked in France. His name is also given as Kimly, Kimli, Kumli, Kimlig, Kemli, and Kümlich

References

  1. ↑ Ivanova, Elena (2023). Leon Schulman Gaspard: The Real Story. Mascot Books. pp. 9–10. ISBN   978-1-63755-245-2.
  2. ↑ Jellico, John (1981). "Leon Gaspard". Artists of the Rockies and the Golden West: 62–69.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Waters, Frank. Leon Gaspard. Northland Press, 1964. ISBN   0873582993.
  4. ↑ Benezit
  5. 1 2 Ivanova, Elena (2023). Leon Schulman Gaspard: The Real Story. Mascot Books. pp. 40, 48. ISBN   978-1-63755-245-2.
  6. ↑ Ivanova, Elena (2023). Leon Schulman Gaspard: The Real Story. Mascot Books. pp. 10–11. ISBN   978-1-63755-245-2.
  7. ↑ Askart
  8. ↑ Ivanova, Elena (2023). Leon Schulman Gaspard: The Real Story. Mascot Books. p. 53. ISBN   978-1-63755-245-2.
  9. ↑ Catalogue général des élèves répertoire alphabetique, 31, rue de Dragon, atelier de gauche, Bouguereau at Ferrier, 1903-1905; et atelier Toudouze et Baschet, 1905-1907, Archives Nationales de France, microfilm 63 AS 1, 318.
  10. ↑ Schulman et Gasper, décembre 24, 1908. Actes des mariages, Mairie de Paris, no. 1460, Archives de Paris.
  11. 1 2 Leon Gaspard Papers, 1917-1964, Archives of American Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  12. ↑ Jouineau, André (2009). Officiers et Soldats de l'Armée Française de la Grand Guerre,1914-1918, vol. 2, insignia of a warrant officer in a balloon unit (model-type of December 30, 1912, inventory number 31368. Histoire et Collections.
  13. ↑ "Leon Gaspard Famous Painter, Visits the City". The Honolulu Star-Bulletin. April 7, 1921. p. 3.
  14. ↑ "Artist Finds Work in China Interests". San Francisco Chronicle. September 12, 1921. p. 11.
  15. ↑ "To Paint the Orient: Leon Gaspard, Whose Work Was Exhibited Here, Sails". The New York Times. February 21, 1926. p. 14.
  16. ↑ List of the United States Citizens, S.S. Chicago Sailing from Bordeaux on August 21, 1926, arriving at the Port of New York on September 2, 1926, no. 24
  17. ↑ New York Passenger Lists, 1932, no 2, 925, lines 4, 5.
  18. ↑ "The Gaspards Return Home From Travels". The Taos News. August 20, 1959. p. 5.
  19. ↑ Ivanova, Elena (2023). Leon Schulman Gaspard: The Real Story. Mascot Books. pp. 92–93. ISBN   978-1-63755-245-2.
  20. ↑ Sanchez, Pierre (2006). Dictionnaire du Salon d'Automne: répertoire des expositions et liste des oeuvres presentées, 1903-1945, vol. 3 (in French). L'Echelle de Jacob. pp. 1238–39.
  21. ↑ Lobstein, Dominic (2003). Dictionnaire des Indépendents, 1884-1914, vol. 3 (in French). L'Echelle de Jacob. p. 1561.
  22. ↑ Dugnat, Gaïte (2000). Les Catalogues des Salons de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, vol. 4 (in French). Echelle de Jacob. p. 163.
  23. ↑ Sanchez, Pierre. Les Catalogues des Salons des Beaux-Arts, vol. 22, Salon 1909 (in French). p. 134.
  24. ↑ Sanchez, Pierre. Les catalogues des Salons des Beaux-Arts, vol 22, Salon 1910 (in French). p. 144.
  25. ↑ "Vystavka kartin". Vitebskiye Gubernskyie Vedomosti, Number 230, October 17, 1907, p. 3.
  26. ↑ "Mogilevsky Vestnik, Number 49, February 28, 1908, p.3".
  27. ↑ Sanchez, Pierre (2011). Les Expositions de la Galerie Georges Petit (1881-1934), vol. 1. L'Echelle de Jacob. p. 35.
  28. ↑ Sanchez, Pierre (2009). Les expositions de la Galerie Berthe Weil (1901-1942) et de la Galerie Devambez (1907-1926), vol. 2. L'Echelle de Jacob. p. 448.
  29. ↑ Bernaerts Auctioneers, Verlatsraat, Museumstraat 25, 2000 Antwerp. Belgium, notes for lot 466, Auction December 11–12, 2017.
  30. ↑ Waters, p. 111.
  31. ↑ Leon Gaspard : A Retrospective Exhibition. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico. 1965.
  32. ↑ San Francisco, 1967. "Leon Gaspard 1882 - 1964," exhibition catalogue, Maxwell Galleries, LTD. Hogan and Kaus Lithograph Co: 1967.
  33. ↑ Dorfman, John (2009). "From Russia, With Love". Art & Antiques: 98–105.
  34. ↑ "Exhibitions". matteucci.com. 1 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  35. ↑ Lubbock, Texas."Leon Gaspard: The Artist, the Land," exhibition catalogue, The Museum of Texas Tech University: 1986.
  36. ↑ "Leon Shulman Gaspard (1882 - 1964)". christies.com. 29 November 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2013.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.