I’m sure you’ve seen his name many times. If you’re on Facebook at all and love art, particularly great paintings, Samuel Cherubin’s name will be attached to many of those posts. Although he’s not an artist himself he has developed a very sophisticated artistic taste and happily shares that with his 141,000 followers. His daily posts are such a generous contribution to the art community, and are a virtual art museum of some of the world’s greatest artists.
Over the years our feelings toward Samuel are as a family friend. When his dear son, Felipe, passed in 2019 at the age of 35, we felt his sorrow and shared that grief with him.
I first became acquainted with Samuel when I came across one of my paintings that he had shared with his audience on Facebook. Since then he has shared many of my paintings, and does the same for innumerable others.
I wanted to know more about Samuel Cherubin…what’s his background, and why has he taken this task upon himself to promote great paintings. Who is this guy anyway? The Facebook community is waiting for the answer.
When I contacted him requesting a short interview, I assumed he spoke English; he does not. His native language is Portuguese. Still, he agreed to this short interview; a close friend handled the translation between us.
I can’t tell you how honored I am to bring you this interview. It’s a way of honoring a man who selflessly does so much for the art community, and it’s a way for you to appreciate him even more. You’ll enjoy this.
Samuel Cherubin
Samuel, how is your surname pronounced? The origin of the name is Italian. In that country the name is pronounced ‘kerubin’, but in Brazil it has been ‘brazilianized’, and ‘ch’ is pronounced like ‘Chavez’ or in the English word ‘chair’, with ‘i’ being pronounced as in ‘india’.
You were raised in Brazil; how was your childhood? Yes, I was born in Brazil. I had a poor childhood, but within a well structured home with both parents being practicing evangelicals, and even though our family did not enjoy luxuries or superfluous items, we have never suffered deprivation. My father was a butcher who had a small butchery, and since I was a child I started to have contact with the business of meat. Already when I was eight years old I would go to street fairs after school to sell kites I made. When I was 12 years old I told my father that I did not wish to keep attending school, and my father told me that if I did not want to attend school, I would have to work, and he took me to work for him in his butchery.
What kind of education did you receive? Only junior high school.
Tell us about your family. My family is of Italian origin, evangelical, very united, since the generation of my grandmother. My father and mother were wonderful parents, even with a scarce financial condition. They provided us with a stern education, having imprinted upon us Christian values, and the value of the honest, sound, productive work.
What kind of work did you exercise professionally? I have always worked with meat, beginning in my father’s butchery. When I left the army at the age of 19, back in 1979, I bought a small butchery and worked 12-14 hours per day. As time went by, my brothers began working with me and in a few years we jumped from one butchery to 36, employing between 400 and 500 workers. We processed 50000 kilograms (110,231 pounds) of meat per day. We had two trucks and we worked with beef, pork and chicken. In 1999 we bought a small slaughter house, which slaughtered 200 animals per day and that business grew up and began slaughtering 800 animals per day and employing one thousand workers. And when I became 54 years old I retired, and hence began to be interested in art.
How did you become interested in art? It was by chance. Some 10 years ago, my older son, Felipe, offered me as a gift…a book about Rembrandt, and together we began to appreciate that book, and I immediately fell in love for the work of that Dutch painter. Four painters are my preferred artists, beginning with Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, and Vincent Van Gogh, Nicolai Ivanovich Firkin and John Singer Sargent. It was this gift by my son which arose in me the taste for art.
You are not an artist, however you have a quite sophisticated appreciation and taste for quality art; how have such tastes been developed? When I retired, I started to have the time to seek more information by internet with regard to art, and artists. Gradually I acquired a better appreciation of art and the creative processes; I began to value the work of the artists, and within my possibilities I try to publicize their work. I do not consider myself an art expert, but I believe that throughout these years I could develop a perception which allows me to identify quality art.
You are very faithful to posting painting images in the Facebook; why did you start doing this? As the years went by, I was able to understand what is good art and what it is not, and I sought to become familiar with the art practiced in many countries; I do find quality artists in many countries. I like quality art, where it comes from I do not care.
How do you discover new artists? I do a lot of research.
Do you have some special favorites? Why? My favorite ones are Rembrandt and Van Gogh, and modernly, Nicolai Firkin and Sargent because they are great masters. They are special.
Why is art important to you? Because it fulfills my heart. I do not do art moved by a personal interest; I do it for two reasons: one reason, because I have this gift. I discovered this gift when I was 54; my son drew my attention to it. Secondly, it is because I am able to disclose artists all over the world. I think this is an important disclosure work, because every artist produces his own type of art, and with that, benefiting the artists. I have cases of artists who thank me for having been able to sell their paintings through my page, and this makes me very happy, because this is one of my goals.
There you have it. Now you know our friend even better. Thank you, Samuel, for the interview and continuing to share so much great art with the art world. We wish you many more years of sharing your joy and fabulous artists with us. Blessings to you.
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