GENERAL DESCRIPTION
An American Impressionist painter who emigrated from Denmark in 1872, Emil Carlsen spent his career dedicated to painting still lifes and was often referred to as the "The American Chardin”, referencing Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, the 18th century French master. While his contemporaries found inspiration from developments in modern painting, Carlsen remained faithful to his established subject matter and method, modeling his still lifes after Chardin’s muted colors and velvety light.
Study in Grey was painted after Carlsen's return to the east coast after a stint teaching in San Francisco. The painting displays a broad tonal range, which Carlsen strategically used to explore and contrast the many textures of his staged objects. The sheen of the black cauldron, for example, contrasts with the muddy, muted tone of the brass tea kettle. These close studies in tonal shift reflect the artist’s belief that inherent beauty remained independent of its subject matter.
Excerpt from
Erin Piñon, DMA label text, 2016
NOTES
Created in 1906
"Carlsen's so-called Study in Grey, like Pottery Jars also defines a clear horizontal space between the picture's frontal plane and background, which is here artfully constructed of wooden planks and molding. Placed alongside a great black iron tripod kettle—one of Carlsen's favorite objects—is an eccentric brass kettle with complex fittings on its lid and a slender curving spout, together with an earthenware jug, small porcelain bowl, and a linen cloth. The palette is confined in the most deliberate manner to variants of gray along the spectrum of white-black-grey-brown, a color range that produces a certain forlorn quality expressive of a storage shelf.
These two paintings comprise part of a small group of related, and equally beautiful, still lifes in which a relatively large number of objects is disposed horizontally along a shelf whose front edge intersecst the picture plane. In these works, the artist crossed a critical line through his capacity to impart to the assembled objects the sense of a world existing unto itself, an independent, artificial domain goberened and informed by the artist's personal vision. In such works the viewer is no longer bound by the criteria of verisimilitude, or distracted by implied narrative, but discovers objects of the artist's invention with pure aesthetic pleasure. Confining himself to a few essential slements having alternately subtle and bold contrasts, and through his carefully selected color schemes, Carlsen succeeds in creating a subjective state, not by the subject he represents, but by the way he composes and paints it. These are the works that in Carlsen's words, go beyond "mere painting." pp. 31-32 Quiet Magic: The Still-Life Paintings of Emil Carlsen by Ulrich W. Hiesinger, Vance Jordan FIne Art Inc. New York 1999
Emil Carlsen on still life painting (1908): "...Still life painting must be of a well understood simplicity, solid, strong, vital, unnecessary details neglected, salient points embellished, made the most of, every touch full of meaning and for the love of beauty."
Fun Fact with citation: Emil Carlsen discussing still life paintings: "...the study of still life should be made interesting from the beginning; the objects selected for their beauty of line and color; and here let me advise the choice of whites and greys. Some of the best pictures of Chardin, the very greatest still life painter, are limited in their color schemes, but the colors are of the choicest quality." Carlsen, Emil. "On Still-Life Painting." Palette and Bench 1 (Oct. 1908), p. 6.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Carlsen, Emil (American, 1853-1932)
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1906-1926: Emil Carlsen (1853-1932)
From 1926: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Munger Fund, purchased from the artist [1] [2]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
[2] Works of art purchased by the Mrs. Stephen I. Munger Endowment are placed in the custody of the Dallas Museum of Art for the purpose of exhibition. The title to all works of art purchased by the Munger Fund remain with the Fund.
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WEB RESOURCES
- Emil Carlsen Archives~Learn more about the artist and his works at the Emil Carlsen Archives.
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FUN FACTS
- Emil Carlsen, like John Singer Sargent, was fascinated with the representation of variations of the color white. He often included white cloths, onions, and garlic in his still lifes in order to afford him an opportunity to depict these variations.
- Emil Carlsen discussing still life paintings: "...the study of still life should be made interesting from the beginning; the objects selected for their beauty of line and color; and here let me advise the choice of whites and greys. Some of the best pictures of Chardin, the very greatest still life painter, are limited in their color schemes, but the colors are of the choicest quality."
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General Description
An American Impressionist painter who emigrated from Denmark in 1872, Emil Carlsen spent his career dedicated to painting still lifes and was often referred to as the "The American Chardin”, referencing Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, the 18th century French master. While his contemporaries found inspiration from developments in modern painting, Carlsen remained faithful to his established subject matter and method, modeling his still lifes after Chardin’s muted colors and velvety light.
Study in Grey was painted after Carlsen's return to the east coast after a stint teaching in San Francisco. The painting displays a broad tonal range, which Carlsen strategically used to explore and contrast the many textures of his staged objects. The sheen of the black cauldron, for example, contrasts with the muddy, muted tone of the brass tea kettle. These close studies in tonal shift reflect the artist’s belief that inherent beauty remained independent of its subject matter.
Excerpt from
Erin Piñon, DMA label text, 2016
Fun Facts
- Emil Carlsen, like John Singer Sargent, was fascinated with the representation of variations of the color white. He often included white cloths, onions, and garlic in his still lifes in order to afford him an opportunity to depict these variations.
- Emil Carlsen discussing still life paintings: "...the study of still life should be made interesting from the beginning; the objects selected for their beauty of line and color; and here let me advise the choice of whites and greys. Some of the best pictures of Chardin, the very greatest still life painter, are limited in their color schemes, but the colors are of the choicest quality."
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Created in 1906
"Carlsen's so-called Study in Grey, like Pottery Jars also defines a clear horizontal space between the picture's frontal plane and background, which is here artfully constructed of wooden planks and molding. Placed alongside a great black iron tripod kettle—one of Carlsen's favorite objects—is an eccentric brass kettle with complex fittings on its lid and a slender curving spout, together with an earthenware jug, small porcelain bowl, and a linen cloth. The palette is confined in the most deliberate manner to variants of gray along the spectrum of white-black-grey-brown, a color range that produces a certain forlorn quality expressive of a storage shelf.
These two paintings comprise part of a small group of related, and equally beautiful, still lifes in which a relatively large number of objects is disposed horizontally along a shelf whose front edge intersecst the picture plane. In these works, the artist crossed a critical line through his capacity to impart to the assembled objects the sense of a world existing unto itself, an independent, artificial domain goberened and informed by the artist's personal vision. In such works the viewer is no longer bound by the criteria of verisimilitude, or distracted by implied narrative, but discovers objects of the artist's invention with pure aesthetic pleasure. Confining himself to a few essential slements having alternately subtle and bold contrasts, and through his carefully selected color schemes, Carlsen succeeds in creating a subjective state, not by the subject he represents, but by the way he composes and paints it. These are the works that in Carlsen's words, go beyond "mere painting." pp. 31-32 Quiet Magic: The Still-Life Paintings of Emil Carlsen by Ulrich W. Hiesinger, Vance Jordan FIne Art Inc. New York 1999
Emil Carlsen on still life painting (1908): "...Still life painting must be of a well understood simplicity, solid, strong, vital, unnecessary details neglected, salient points embellished, made the most of, every touch full of meaning and for the love of beauty."
Fun Fact with citation: Emil Carlsen discussing still life paintings: "...the study of still life should be made interesting from the beginning; the objects selected for their beauty of line and color; and here let me advise the choice of whites and greys. Some of the best pictures of Chardin, the very greatest still life painter, are limited in their color schemes, but the colors are of the choicest quality." Carlsen, Emil. "On Still-Life Painting." Palette and Bench 1 (Oct. 1908), p. 6.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Carlsen, Emil (American, 1853-1932)
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1906-1926: Emil Carlsen (1853-1932)
From 1926: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Munger Fund, purchased from the artist [1] [2]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
[2] Works of art purchased by the Mrs. Stephen I. Munger Endowment are placed in the custody of the Dallas Museum of Art for the purpose of exhibition. The title to all works of art purchased by the Munger Fund remain with the Fund.
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