Edward William Carlson

Edward William Carlson[1] was an American painter known specifically for his miniature portraits. He exhibited works at the Art Institute of Chicago, Arts Club of Chicago,[2] Royal Academy (Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna) in Stockholm, Sweden,[3] National Academy of Design in New York,[4][5] Swedish Club of Chicago,[6] and the Cincinnati Museum for Art[7] among others.

Edward William Carlson
Born
Edward William Carlson

(1883-05-04)May 4, 1883
Chicago, Illinois, USA
DiedJuly 26, 1932(1932-07-26) (aged 49)
Chikaming, Berrien, Michigan, USA
Resting placeDonaldson, Indiana, USA
NationalityAmerican
EducationSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago
Known forpainting, miniature portraits
Spouse(s)Eva Randolph Dorchester

Childhood

Edward William Carlson (May 4, 1883 – July 26, 1932) was an American miniature portraitist. His parents were Swedish immigrants Minnie and John. Carlson spent most of his childhood in Chicago, Illinois where his parents owned and operated the Englewood Home Laundry.[8][9]

At four years of age circa 1887 Carlson fell ill with scarlet fever, and as a result, lost both his hearing and eventually his speech.[10][11]

Carlson was one of eight siblings though two died young. His remaining brothers and sisters, of whom he was the oldest, were Enoch, Amanda, Esther, Arvid and John.

Circa 1900 the Carlson family moved near Grovertown, Indiana where they bought or leased a farm near those of his mother's brothers. At this time Edward Carlson's occupation is a farmhand.[12] He was seventeen years old.

Adulthood
Portrait of Boy in Uniform by Edward William Carlson

As an adolescent Carlson showed an aptitude for painting. Later, after working on the family farm in Indiana, he returned to Chicago and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[10][13][lower-alpha 1]

Also attending the Art Institute was Eva Randolph Dorchester (August 28, 1880 – October 14, 1926) of Sherman, Texas who was deaf-mute since birth. Eva had been born in Kentucky. Her father, C. B. Dorchester, was a banker.[15] Before attending the Art Institute (1898-1901) Eva had been a student at the Austin Ward 11, Texas School for the Deaf in Travis, Texas, from 1888 to 1900.[15][16] Carlson and Eva met at the Art Institute and their relationship grew.

Between 1907 and 1910 Carlson boarded at various residences in Chicago, probably while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[17] By 1910 he was living with his uncle August Holmquist, his aunt Hanna, and his young cousins Alma, Ebba, Alice and Violet at their home on 2700, West 23rd Street, Chicago.[18]

Eva graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on June 23, 1911, having taken the three year course in drawing, painting and sculpture.[19] That same year, after visiting Edward's family in Indiana, Edward and Eva were married on Wednesday, October 4, 1911, in Hopkins, Texas.[20][21] Afterward they returned to Chicago.[22]

At an exhibit at the Swedish Club of Chicago in 1912 Edward won the prize for miniature painting.[23]

On December 3, 1913 Eva gave birth to their daughter, Marjorie Nellie.[24]

Swedish Club of Chicago

In 1915 Carlson again exhibited some of his portraits at the Swedish Club of Chicago. "Among the miniature portraits there are six by Edward Carlson of Chicago, which are the pride of the exhibit."[25]

An accomplished miniature portraitist,[26] Edward's work appeared often at the Art Institute of Chicago, and in other venues. In 1920 a number of his portraits were included in an exhibition of one hundred pieces by forty artists, which traveled first to New York and then to the cities of Stockholm, Göteborg (Gothenburg) and Malmö, Sweden. The art critic Elisabeth Luther Cary, the first full-time art critic for the New York Times, wrote, "The small group of miniatures by Ed. W. Carlson sets a neat period [to the end] of the exhibition. They are careful and expert in execution and show unremitting interest in essential character [of his subjects] which is the best gift Sweden has sent to the art of America."[27]

On October 14, 1926, at 46 years of age, Eva died of stomach cancer in her mother's home in Texas.[28][29] Marjorie was twelve years old.

Signature of Edward William Carlson

In July of the following year, Edward and Marjorie took the train to the National Fraternal Society for the Deaf (NFSD) convention, attended by about 800 people, in Denver, Colorado. After the convention Edward and Marjorie headed west. "Ed. W. Carlson and 13-year-old daughter, Majorie, left Denver for Spokane, Portland, California and Texas points a two months' trip. It was very touching to see the tender care with which Carlson consoled his little girl [whose] mother died in Texas...."[30]

In 1929 Carlson was awarded first prize in the miniature category from the Swedish Club of Chicago.[31][32]

By 1930 Edward and Marjorie were boarders with the Hooper family, who were originally from Texas, at 7143 Evans Avenue, Chicago.[33]

Edward died five years after the death of Eva, on Tuesday, July 26, 1932, after a long struggle with asthma, at his sister's home in Chikaming, Berrien, Michigan, USA.[34][35] He was forty-nine years of age. Marjorie was now eighteen years old.

Memberships

Carlson was a founding member of the Chicago Society of Miniature Painters, a member of the Society of Western Artists, and the Chicago Society of Artists.[36] [lower-alpha 2][37]

Paintings

Paintings by Edward William Carlson include:[38][39][40][41][42][43][44]

Footnotes
  1. At some point before attending the Art Institute Carlson attended a school for the deaf and mute in Sweden for three years.[14]
  2. Other founding members of the Chicago Society of Miniature Painters were Anna Lynch, Eda Nemoede Casterton, Carolyn D. Tyler, Marian Dunlap Harper, Magda Heuermann, Katherine Wolcott, Mabel Packard, Kate Bacon Bond, Frances M. Beem, Eva L. Carman, Helen B. Slutz, Evelyn Purdie, Edna Amelia Robeson, and Alden F. Brooks.
  3. Marjorie Nellie (Carlson) Semmes (December 3, 1913 – May 11, 2006)
  4. Probably Marjorie Nellie (Carlson) Semmes (December 3, 1913 – May 11, 2006)
  5. Probably P. J. Hasenstab
  6. Exhibited in 1922 at the Swedish Club of Chicago. See "Art", Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter, February 1, 1922. [Translated from the Swedish and made available through the Foreign Language Press Survey]

References
  1. Edward W. Carlson the miniature portraitist should not be confused with Edward L. Carlson the painter of landscapes.
  2. Magazine of Art, volume 12, American Federation of Arts, 1921, page 251.
  3. Magazine of Art, volume 12, American Federation of Arts, 1921, page 35.
  4. The American Magazine of Art, volume 11, November 1919 – December 1920, page 336.
  5. American Painters of Swedish Descent, 1920. The Art Institute of Chicago
  6. American Art News, volume 13, number 30, May 1, 1915, page 4.
  7. Cincinnati Museum Association: Twenty-seventh Annual Report, 1907, page 61
  8. Located initially and 6112 South Green Street, Englewood, and later six blocks away at 6637 South Halsted, Englewood (Chicago).
  9. Illinois. Department of Factory Inspection, Annual Report of the Factory Inspector of Illinois: 1900-1901. Office of Illinois Department of Factory Inspection, January 1, 1902, page 96.
  10. Sv[ensk]-amer[ikansk] könstnar avlider, Vestkunsten: Veckotidning för svenskarne på Stillahavskusten (San Francisco and Oakland, California, USA), August 11, 1932, page 3. (Swedish)
  11. Holmquist, John Theodore, A Brief Family Tree (1953), pages 1-2.
  12. 1900 United States Federal Census
  13. For insight on the origin and struggle of Swedish specifically, and emigrant or first generation artists in general, see "Among Swedish Artists in Chicago", Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter, December 28, 1921. [Translated from the Swedish and made available through the Foreign Language Press Survey]
  14. "Edward Carlson Dies in Sawyer; Rites on Friday at Three Oaks" The Herald-Press (St. Joseph, Michigan), July 28, 1932, page 2.
  15. "Eva Dorchester." E-mail from Franna Camenisch, Museum Curator, to the Wikipedia contributor. March 9, 2017. Texas School for the Deaf Museum
  16. United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.
  17. Carlson residences in Chicago - 1907: 1043 South Irving Ave; 1907-09: 143 West 24th Street; 1910-11: 2700 West 23rd Street.
  18. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624_254, Page: 17A, 1,178 rolls). Census Place: Chicago Ward 12, Cook, Illinois.
  19. Sherman Daily Democrat. (Sherman, Texas, USA), volume 30th year, edition 1, Saturday, June 24, 1911; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth644536/m1/6/:).
  20. Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977, Hopkins, Texas, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 1,298,846.
  21. Weekly Republican, Volume 57, Number 45, Plymouth, Marshall County [Indiana], 9 November 1911, page 7. (Note that some of the accomplishments given to individuals in this article may be exaggerated.)
  22. Carlson residences in Chicago: - 1912-14: 3422 Calumet Avenue; 1914-16: 3311 Calumet Avenue; 1917-circa 1921: 4434 Calumet Avenue; 1921 to at least 1923: 7413 Evans Avenue.
  23. Olson, Ernst Wilhelm. The Swedish Element in Illinois: Survey of the Past Seven Decades with Life Sketches of Men of Today. Chicago, Illinois: Swedish-American Biographical Association, 1917, pages 263, 265.
  24. "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940", Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 2663, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,288,304.
  25. "Pallet and Pencil: The Swedish Club of Chicago Holds its Fourth Art Exhibit" Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter, April 27, 1915. [Translated from the Swedish and made available through the Foreign Language Press Survey]
  26. Erickson, Rolf H. "Swedish-American Artists Exhibitions in Chicago Described in Checklists and Catalogs". Swedish-American Historical Society, volume 42, number 2, April 1991, page 92.
  27. "An Exhibition of Work by Americans of Swedish Descent", Scandinavian Review, volume 8, American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1920, page 605.
  28. Certificate of Death: Eva Dorchester Carlson. Filed 23 October 1926. County: Grayson. City: Sherman. State of Texas, Texas State Board of Health, Register Number 262, File Number 58943. Informant: C. B. Dorchester [father of deceased], Sherman, Texas.
  29. The Deaf-Mutes' Journal, volume 55, number 43, April 28, 1926, page 4.
  30. The Deaf-Mute's Journal, volume 56, July 28, 1927, page 2.
  31. "Art Exhibit Closes Prizes Awarded", Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter, April 17, 1929. [Translated from the Swedish and made available through the Foreign Language Press Survey]
  32. The Deaf-Mutes' Journal, Mexico, N.Y.: Henry C. Rider, April 4, 1929, page 2.
  33. "United States Census, 1930," Edward Carlson in household of Hosea Hooper, Chicago (Districts 0251-0500), Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 342, sheet 1B, line 99, family 25, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 428; FHL microfilm 2,340,163.
  34. The Deaf-Mutes' Journal, volume 61, number 32, August 11, 1932, page 2.
  35. Michigan Death Certificates, 1921-1952, GS Film number 001973187, Digital Folder Number 005363553, Image Number 00982.
  36. Magazine of Art, volume 12. American Federation of Arts, 1921, page 251.
  37. Catalogue of the Nineteenth Annual Exhibition of Water-colors, Pastels and Miniatures by American Artists: May 7 to June 16, 1907. Art Institute of Chicago, 1907, page 17.
  38. Catalogue of the Exhibition of the Annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1912.
  39. Twenty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of Water Colors, Pastels And Miniatures by American Artists: The Art Institute of Chicago from May 7 to June 7, 1914. The Libby Co., 1914, page 12.
  40. Catalogue of the Sixth Annual Exhibition by the Chicago Society of Miniature Painters: The Art Institute of Chicago, February Fourteen to March Seventeen, Nineteen Hundred and Eighteen. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1918, page 2.
  41. Catalogue of the Twenty-second Annual Exhibition of Watercolors, Pastels, and Miniatures by American Artists, May 10 to June 8, 1910. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1918, page 16.
  42. Catalogue of the Seventh Annual Exhibition by the Chicago Society of Miniature Painters: The Art Institute of Chicago, February Fourteen to March Seventeen, Nineteen Hundred and Eighteen. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1919, page 4.
  43. American Painters of Swedish Descent: exhibiting under the auspices of The Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1920, page 12.
  44. Falk, Peter Hastings, editor. The Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago 1888-1950. Madison, Connecticut, U.S.A.: Sound View Press, 1990, page 189. ISBN 0-932087-11-6. [Includes addresses of where Carlson was living when a particular artwork was exhibited.]
  45. Image courtesy of Don Shelton in "Carlson, Edward W - portrait of a boy in uniform", 20C - American Miniature Portraits. Accessed January 28, 2018.
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