Paul Gauguin
Upaupa Schneklud (The Player Schneklud)
1893
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 36 1/2 × 28 7/8 in. (92.7 × 73.3 cm.)
Framed: 45 × 37 1/2 × 3 5/8 in. (114.3 × 95.3 × 9.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Given by Hilda K. Blaustein in Memory of her late Husband, Jacob Blaustein
Object Number
1979.163
Upaupa Schneklud represents the Swedish composer and violoncellist Fritz Schneklud (1859–1930), with whom Gauguin was casually acquainted through mutual friends in Paris. Gauguin may have based the posture of the musician in his painting on a photograph of Schneklud, but the artist superimposed many of his own features to cast the painting as a self-portrait.
An ambiguous inscription in the upper left corner of the composition reads “Upaupa Schneklud,” or “The Player Schneklud.” ’Upa’upa alludes to a traditional and rhythmic dance of Tahiti.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1979; from Hilda K. Blaustein, Baltimore; Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Blaustein, Baltimore; by purchase from Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., NY, October 17, 1940, no. 69, (ill as "Le violoncelliste (Portrait of M. F. Schneklud);" Collection Jerome Stonborough and Margarethe Wittgenstein Stonborough, Vienna, Austria; Marcel Norero Sale, Paris, 1927; Collection Marcel Norero, Paris; Galerie Druet, Paris; Sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1914; La Peau de l'Ours, Paris.
Zurich, "Art Francais de XIXe et XXe siecles", 1917, no. 100.
Stonborough Sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., NYC, "Important Works by Modern French Painters", sale #217; October 17, 1940, No. 69.
BMA, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting, 1840-1940", June 6-September 1, 1941.
Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, "Gauguin", 1946, no. 28.
BMA, "Musical Instruments and their Portrayal in Art", April 26-June 2, 1946, no. 57.
BMA, "From Ingres to Gauguin: French 19th Century Paintings Owned in Maryland", November-December 30, 1951.
The Detroit Institute of Arts, "French Painting from Gerome to Gauguin", 1954, no. 112.
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, "Gauguin", 1956, no. 19.
Lowe Art Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida, "Gauguin", 1956, no. 14.
The Art Institute of Chicago and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "Gauguin", 1959, no. 58.
Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, "Olympia's Progeny: French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings", 1965, no. 77.
Stuttgart, "Art and Music in the 20th Century", July 6-September 22, 1985, no. 44.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., "The Art of Paul Gauguin", May 1-July 31, 1988; circulated to Art Institute of Chicago, September 17-December 11, 1988.
Françoise Cachin, Decouvertes Gallimard Réunion des Musées Nationaux Peinture, Paris: "Gauguin: Ce malgre moi de sauvage", 1988, ill. p. 95.
Fujikawa Galleries, Inc. Tok Fujigalo Tokyo 6-24, 8 Chome Ginza, Chuaku, Tokyo, Dec. 1990, pp. 35, 48. ill. p. 48
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, "The Art of Paul Gauguin", 17 September-11 December 1988, p. 259, and p. 313, circulated to Grand Palais, Paris, January 10-April 20, 1989.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Impressionism to Modernism: Monet to Matisse from the Museum's Collection", October 12, 1991-January 19, 1992.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Triumph of French Painting, Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse", March 12-September 16, 2000; circulated to The Philbrook Museum of Art, The Norton Museum of Art, Dayton Art Institute, The Royal Academy of Arts, Albright-Knox Art Gallery through January 6, 2002.
Virginia Museum of Art, Richmond, "Van Gogh and Gauguin: An Artistic Dialogue in the South of France", March 27, 2004-June 13, 2004.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris", circulated to; North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004-January 16, 2005, Naples Museum of Art February 5, 2005-May 1, 2005.
National Gallery of Australia, "Gauguin's World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao", June 28. 2024 - October 7, 2024; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 3, 2024 - February 16, 2025.
Stonborough Sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., NYC, "Important Works by Modern French Painters", sale #217; October 17, 1940, No. 69.
BMA, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting, 1840-1940", June 6-September 1, 1941.
Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, "Gauguin", 1946, no. 28.
BMA, "Musical Instruments and their Portrayal in Art", April 26-June 2, 1946, no. 57.
BMA, "From Ingres to Gauguin: French 19th Century Paintings Owned in Maryland", November-December 30, 1951.
The Detroit Institute of Arts, "French Painting from Gerome to Gauguin", 1954, no. 112.
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, "Gauguin", 1956, no. 19.
Lowe Art Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida, "Gauguin", 1956, no. 14.
The Art Institute of Chicago and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "Gauguin", 1959, no. 58.
Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, "Olympia's Progeny: French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings", 1965, no. 77.
Stuttgart, "Art and Music in the 20th Century", July 6-September 22, 1985, no. 44.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., "The Art of Paul Gauguin", May 1-July 31, 1988; circulated to Art Institute of Chicago, September 17-December 11, 1988.
Françoise Cachin, Decouvertes Gallimard Réunion des Musées Nationaux Peinture, Paris: "Gauguin: Ce malgre moi de sauvage", 1988, ill. p. 95.
Fujikawa Galleries, Inc. Tok Fujigalo Tokyo 6-24, 8 Chome Ginza, Chuaku, Tokyo, Dec. 1990, pp. 35, 48. ill. p. 48
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, "The Art of Paul Gauguin", 17 September-11 December 1988, p. 259, and p. 313, circulated to Grand Palais, Paris, January 10-April 20, 1989.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Impressionism to Modernism: Monet to Matisse from the Museum's Collection", October 12, 1991-January 19, 1992.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Triumph of French Painting, Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse", March 12-September 16, 2000; circulated to The Philbrook Museum of Art, The Norton Museum of Art, Dayton Art Institute, The Royal Academy of Arts, Albright-Knox Art Gallery through January 6, 2002.
Virginia Museum of Art, Richmond, "Van Gogh and Gauguin: An Artistic Dialogue in the South of France", March 27, 2004-June 13, 2004.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris", circulated to; North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004-January 16, 2005, Naples Museum of Art February 5, 2005-May 1, 2005.
National Gallery of Australia, "Gauguin's World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao", June 28. 2024 - October 7, 2024; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 3, 2024 - February 16, 2025.
John Rewald, 'Gauguin,' New York and Paris: The Hyperion Press, 1938, p. 47 ill.
(catalogue listing, p. 166, cites no. 47 as 'Portrait of a Musician ('U Paupa Schneklud'), 1890, canvas, Private Collection, Photo Vizzavona.
Georges Wildenstein, 'Gauguin,' Paris: Les Beaux-Arts, 1964, pp. 211-212, no. 517 (vol. I catalogue raisonné).
Hugh Kenner, The Jungle Cellist, New York: 'Art and Antiques,' Nov. 1984, ill. p. 96.
John Russell, 'Must Painting and Music Go Their Separate Ways,' The New York Times, Sunday, August 11, 1985.
Richard Brettell et al., 'The Art of Paul Gauguin,' Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1988, no. 165.
Rene Huyghe, 'Gauguin,' Crown Publishers, Inc. NY, 1988, ill.
Howard Greenfeld, 'Paul Gauguin,' (in the series First Impressions), Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993, ill. p. 75.
Michael C. Fitzgerald, 'Making Modernism, Picasso, and the Creation of the Market for Twentieth-Century Art,' New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995, ill. p. 23.
'Tribute to Tahiti, Philip Hook unveils Gauguin's Guitar Player,' Sotheby's Preview, London, 1998, illus. pp. 18-19.
Sotheby's, 'Impressionist and Modern Art,' Part I, Sale LN8721, December 7, 1998, Fig. 2, p. 59.
Sona Johnston. Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. [Baltimore, MD]: Baltimore Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International, 1999, page 105.
Stephen Sensbach, 'Gauguin's Cellist,' The Burlington Magazine, Volume CXLII, Number 1170, September 2000, pp. 567-570, ill.
Thierry Dussard, 'Dans le sillage de Gauguin: Un Voyage De Point-Aven à Tahiti,' Editions le Motu et Editions Le Télégramme, 2003.
Jean-Yves Tréhin, 'Gauguin, Tahiti et la Photographie,' Ministère de à Culture de Polynésie Française: 2003, p.120, ill.
Frank, Frédéric and Belinda Thomson, eds. In Concert! Musical Instruments in Art 1860-1910. Giverny: Musée des Impressionnismes; Vanves Cedex: Editions Hazan, 2017.
Frank, Frédéric and Belinda Thomson, eds. Tintamarre! Instruments De Musique Dans L'Art 1860-1910. Giverny: Musée des Impressionismes Giverny; Vanves Cedex: Éditions Hazan, 2017.
Hargrove, June. Gauguin. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2017. p. 271, ill.
Fetz, Bernhard, ed. Berg, Wittgenstein, Zuckerkandl: Zentralfiguren der Wiener Moderne. Vienna: Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 2018.
On View at the BMA
