SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Claude Schürr

Born : 1921Died : 2014Documented citizenships : France

Claude Alfred Schürr, a French painter born in Paris in 1921 and deceased in Cannes in 2014, developed a body of work in which the subject emerges from relationships between colours without ever losing its importance. Galerie Gantois describes his painting as composed of coloured planes, with drawing organising the forms, and places it in the wake of post-Cubism. Nudes and interiors appear alongside landscapes, which are particularly prominent and inspired by travels in Europe. Schürr summarises his approach by explaining that patches of colour enable him to find his subject, while affirming that the subject remains indispensable to him.

His training began in adolescence with evening classes devoted to nude drawing and plaster moulding; from 1938 to 1942, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris in the studios of Nicolas Untersteller and Fernand Sabatté. From 1949 to 1950, he stayed in Madrid as a resident at the Casa de Velázquez.

His presence in artistic life is documented from 1940 through his participation in the Salon des indépendants in Paris. In 1946, he exhibited at Galerie Bruno in Paris and Galerie Georges de Braux in Philadelphia. In 1988, Galerie Jean Tour presented Ballade hollandaise, a group of thirty-five paintings devoted to Amsterdam, The Hague, Dordrecht and Delft. A retrospective of his work was held at the Palais de l’Europe in Menton from June to September 2006.

Illustration forms another aspect of his work: in 1961, he illustrated Le lit à colonnes, followed by La lettre dans un taxi, by Louise de Vilmorin; in 1965, he produced nineteen original lithographs for Provence, terre des dieux by Marie Mauron. In Valenciennes, he also created Soleils, two mosaic panels intended for a secondary school. Works are held in public collections: Les Bigoudens, dated 1957, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers; Le port de Dunkerque, dated 1952, at the Musée de Louviers; and La mère de l’artiste, a 1945 oil on canvas, at the Musée national d’art moderne in Paris.

From 1952, Schürr taught at the Académie Julian, and from 1956 at the École des Métiers d’Art; he served on the jury of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts from 1962 to 1968. In 1969, he founded the Académie de Port-Royal with Jean-Maxime Relange; Galerie Gantois describes him as its founding director. Galerie Gantois states that he was appointed Peintre officiel de la Marine in 1981, followed by Peintre officiel de l’Air et de l’Espace in 1986.

This profile brings together identity references for Claude Schürr and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

Documented auction references

18auction references

4auction houses

15documented results with prices

Dobiaschofsky · Genève Enchères · Schuler · Piguet

References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.

Works recorded at auction

Photograph : Piguet · Enlarge image ↗

Piguet

Abstract landscape

Oil on canvas

Original catalogue wording

Paysage abstrait
huile sur toile

Catalogue period : 2026-05-27 — 2026-06-10

Published result : 400 CHF

Fees not specified in the available data

Estimate : CHF 400–600

Claude Schürr

Documented auction references

Works recorded at auction

Abstract landscape

Composition

Abstract composition

"Ambiance verte",

Regatta

“Péniches Parisiennes.”

Raisins et verres,

Composition

"Venise intime",

"Bigoudens dans le vent",

"La cascade verte des gorges sur loup"

Port méditerranéen

"L'Eglise de Naarden (Holland)".

Village breton

"Les régates à Tréboul".

Die Fischer

Composition

Forest

Sources and references

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