Paul Richard Schumann (1876 to 1946)
Paul Schumann has been called the interpreter of the true Texas gulf coast. He was well known for impressionistic paintings of boats, recalling the works of Claude Monet. He worked with bright colors and often used a palette knife to add texture and depth to his canvases.
Born in Germany, Schumann came to Galveston as a child and, except for a period when he studied painting in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast, he lived there from 1891 to 1941. His Galveston studio was destroyed in the 1900 hurricane, but Schumann rebuilt it on the same site. He was a member of the Southern States Art League, Texas Fine Arts Association, Galveston Art League and the New Orleans Art Association. He exhibited extensively in the 1920′s and 1930′s and painted primarily landscapes and marine scenes.
Just as his contemporary Julian Onderdonk immortalized the Texas Hill Country, Schumann captured the beauty and essence of the Texas Coast at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Biographical information courtesy of Neal Auction Company, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Heritage Galleries, Dallas, Texas. 07.09.