Trail Site #6 : 32 Rocky Neck Avenue
DIRECTIONS: Continue down Rocky Neck Avenue about 200 feet and you will see the Emile Gruppé Gallery/Studio on your left.
The most important thing to remember is to try to draw what you see. Don’t think you’re doing a “tree”, or a “boat”. As soon as you start thinking about the subject, as such, you’ll get lost in drawing what you think it looks like. Think of a shape, first… — Emile A. Gruppé
The smaller structure to the right among the complex of yellow buildings that occupy the large lot between 32 Rocky Neck Avenue and 11 Wonson Street was originally the neighborhood schoolhouse. The schoolhouse was purchased in 1931 by Emile Albert Gruppé (1896-1978) as a studio and gallery. A plein air painter and son of Rochester, New York artist Charles Paul Gruppé (1860-1940), Emile Gruppé had moved to Gloucester in the early 1920s. Here, he said, the fishing boats, harbor front, quiet coves and restless ocean provided nearly all the material he needed.
Highly respected by critics, well honored and prolific, Emile Gruppé maintained a school of painting, gallery and studio at this location on Rocky Neck until he died. His former property is now the home and gallery of his son, artist Robert Gruppé, who carries on the plein air tradition of his father and grandfather.
