Article fondateur renders the meaning of seminal paper as given here:
https://www.seslisozluk.net/en/what-is-the-meaning-of-seminal-paper/
Definition of seminal paper in English English dictionary: A seminal paper is a kind of "classic" in a broad meaning of the term. It is a paper which has served as a model for other papers, which first has presented an influential view of theory.
Can we also use papier fondateur instead?
For the sake of completeness (merci @aCOSwt):
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/68148/when-to-refer-to-a-paper-as-seminal