Born in Paris in 1861, the son of the celebrated French sculptor, Charles Gumery, the young Adolphe, together with his younger brother Achille were surrounded by art from an early age. His father, who encouraged Adolphe to become an artist, died when Adolphe was ten years old and it was then that he decided to pursue an artistic career to fulfill his father’s wishes. After attending high school, he enrolled at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, initially to study sculpture but soon changed to oil painting. He trained under a variety of teachers that would each add something to his oeuvre later in life but perhaps Boulanger and Lefebvre were the most influential. By 1885 he had graduated and at first worked as a caricaturist and book illustrator working on the new magazine Germinal. He became close friends with many of the leading artists of the day through his association with the Salons of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts and Artistes Francais. His first major painting was one entitled ‘Depart pour la Fete’ which was so well received that it was purchased by the French Government and given to the Musee d’Epinal.
In 1886 Gumery marries and three years later they have a son and move to the Batignolles neighborhood of Paris. In 1896 they have a daughter and a year later a second son. As the family needed more space they moved to the village of Passy, then outside Paris but now part of the 16tharondissement. Here Gumery set up his studio and sent paintings for exhibition at the Salons. The family lived poorly however, primarily because of Gumery’s dislike of selling his work to dealers. Fortunately, from time to time, paintings were purchased by the State which were sent to various museums in France. As Gumery worked alone, he was not influenced by the changing nature of the art world and as a result retained the ideals of French academic landscape painting to the end. Gumery’s life was filled with sadness following the deaths of both his sons in World War One. He continued to paint however, although his later work failed to match the strength and beauty of his earlier landscape paintings.
Adolphe Gumery died on January 5, 1943 in the village of Passy. His paintings are held today in a significant number of important collections both public and private.
Lit; E. Benezit