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.