Samuel Courtauld: A Vision for Impressionism

Who was Samuel Courtauld?

Samuel Courtauld (1876 –1947) was an English industrialist who is best remembered as an art collector. He founded The Courtauld Institute of Art and the Courtauld Gallery in London in 1932. Samuel Courtauld played a fundamental role in the recognition of Cézanne in the United Kingdom, by building up one of the greatest collections of the painter’s work, including Montagne Sainte-Victoire au grand pin and one of the five versions of the Joueurs de cartes. Another strong point of the collection was the work of Seurat, with a significant collection of fourteen pieces, including La Jeune Femme se poudrant.