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| Dines Carlsen |
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| American, 1901-1966 |
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| “Wine Glasses” |
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| Oil on canvas Signed lower right 15 x 12 inches |
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| Throughout his life, Dines Carlsen was best known for his still life paintings stressing the play of light on common kitchen utensils and elegant oriental objects d’art integrated into abstract backgrounds executed with short stitch-like strokes in high key colors. His prismatic colors and unusual brushwork were not imitated by any followers, with the possible exception of Harry Watrous (1857-1940), and his work is unique in the history of 20th century American art. Happily, he did not succumb to the temptation to create formulaic compositions and a stereotyped style ? quite the contrary, each work seems to be freshly conceived as though the artist were perceiving some symphony of color and light playing on the objects before him for the first time. Dines Carlsen, son of artist Emil Carlsen, was born in New York on March 28, 1901. As a pupil of his father, he showed a great proficiency for painting at an early age and was educated at home by his mother, a former schoolteacher. At an early age he seems to have developed his own distinctive style and chose to paint primarily still-lifes which his father did only rarely. Phrases that have applied to the elder Carlsen (like father like son) could certainly be applied to Dines: a painter who “has an inward eye, a faculty for discerning all that anyone else ever saw, but more ? a rhythm and music and poetry, a serenity and dignity and sublimity which makes his still-life groupings classic. When gazing at a Carlsen still-life one falls into the same contemplative mood as one does before ? a Leonardo?e vaguely realize that we have experienced a new sensation of beauty ?ur appreciation for beautiful things more keen, our sympathies wider and broader.? Clearly, in his studies with his father he imbibed the deeper aspects of composition, color and beauty to be found in the still-life form. It should also be noted that Emil Carlsen was himself a great admirer of the European masters of still life such as Chardin and Vermeer. When he was fifteen years old, he began to exhibit in large international shows. In 1916, one of his still lifes was included in the 91st Annual Exhibition of the National Academy, and another in the Sixth Biennial of the Corcoran. The attention of the public first took notice of Dines Carlsen at the sale of the collection of William Merritt Chase when it was revealed that the great master possessed a picture by the young painter. He won the Third Hallgarten Prize of the National Academy (awarded to the most promising young artist) and another of the Sixth Biennial of the Corcoran. Elected an Associate of the National Academy in 1922 he was accepted as a full Academician in 1944. Both father and son were artist members of Grand Central Art Galleries and in 1968, a joint exhibition honoring their work was presented there. Exhibited 1916-1933 Seventeen annual exhibitions ? Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1915-1949 Thirty-four annual exhibitions ? National Academy of Design 1920-1930 Six exhibitions ? Carnegie-Internat ional Exhibition, Pennsylvania 1929 Two man exhibition with his father ? Macbeth Gallery, New York 1950 & 1954 One-man exhibition ? Grand Central Galleries, New York 1968 Posthumous joint exhibition with Emil Carlsen ? Grand Central Galleries Museum Collections Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Art Institute of Chicago Boston Museum of Fine Art Detroit Institute of Art Los Angeles Museum of Art High Museum, Atlanta Corcoran Gallery, Washington Cleveland Museum of Art Brooklyn Museum of Art Philadelphia Museum of Art Sweat Memorial Museum John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, IN |
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