Adolphe Gumery was the son of the sculptor Charles Gumery. He had one son, Achille, a painter, who was killed during World War I. From 1882, Adolphe Gumery was a student at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was taught by Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre. From 1881 to 1891, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, and from 1891 to 1942 at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, becoming an associate member in 1904, a full member in 1906, then a member of the jury and secretary-general. In 1906, he was involved in the founding of the Salon d’Automne. He had numerous solo exhibitions, in Paris, Tunis and Brussels. In 2002, the Taylor Foundation in Paris presented a retrospective exhibition of his paintings and drawings.

Although he was familiar with the contemporary movements of Cubism, Abstract Art and Fauvism, Adolphe Gumery was not much influenced by their style. The subject of his paintings was turn-of-the-century Paris, and especially the old quarter of Passy. He travelled a great deal, notably in Spain, Morocco and Tunisia, and also travelled around France, visiting Brittany, Normandy and Provence, where he created works in Impressionist style. There followed an ‘Orientalist’ period, in North Africa, from 1920 to 1930. He produced numerous portraits of his family and friends.

Bordeaux: The Bath

Douai

Düsseldorf: Lamoureux Concert

Épinal: Leaving for the Festival

Hazebrouck

Paris (MAMVP)

Paris (Mus. d’Orsay)

London, 26 Nov 1986: Child with Toys (oil on canvas, 45½ × 32 ins/115.5 × 81.5 cm) GBP 2,700

Versailles, 19 Nov 1989: Hunting the Sparrowhawk at Night (1893, oil on canvas, 32 × 45¾ ins/81.5 × 116.5 cm) FRF 9,500

Paris, 22 June 1990: Travelling Circus, Sousse, Tunisia (oil on canvas, 23½ × 28¾ ins/60 × 73 cm) FRF 18,000

Paris, 12 Dec 1990: Bullfighter Waiting to Enter the Ring (oil on canvas, 35½ × 28¼ ins/90 × 72 cm) FRF 11,000

Paris, 19 Nov 1991: View from a Terrace in Algiers (1921, oil on card, 21¼ × 25½ ins/54 × 65 cm) FRF 10,000

Paris, 21 June 1993: Women Washing Wool in Sousse, Tunisia (1924, oil on canvas, 25½ × 19¼ ins/65 × 49 cm) FRF 4,500

Paris, 22 April 1996: Return of the Flamingos to the Lake of Tunis (oil on canvas, 32 × 41¼ ins/81 × 105 cm) FRF 9,500

Paris, 12 May 2000: In the Princesses’ Cemetery, Algiers (oil on canvas, 23 × 32 ins/59 × 81 cm) FRF 20,000

London, 21 March 2002: Oasis (oil on board, 11 × 14 ins/27 × 35 cm) GBP 1,000

Melun, 6 July 2002: Small Girl in the Garden (oil on canvas, 16 × 13 ins/41 × 33 cm) EUR 3,150

London, 18 June 2003: In the Garden (oil on canvas, 16 × 13 ins/41 × 33 cm) GBP 5,500

Paris, 7 May 2004: Leda and the Swan (1900, oil on canvas, 39 × 32 ins/100 × 81 cm) EUR 5,000

London, 23 Sept 2004: Leda and the Swan (1900, oil on canvas, 39 × 32 ins/100 × 81 cm) GBP 5,000