Emil Carlsen : O Ye of little faith, 1913.

 

ECA record control number: 2622

Archives of American Art #: 87230425, JUL J0046828 [digital photo archive]

Record level: Item

Record type: Movable work

Work title: O, ye of little faith

Alternate work titles:
1926: O, ye of little faith
1923: O ye of little faith
1916: O ye of little faith!
1914: O ye of little faith
1913: Oh, ye of little faith

Work date: 1913 [date based on first known exhibition date.]

Work creator: Emil Carlsen [1848-1932]

Work medium: Oil on canvas
Work dimensions: 58 x 47 inches

Inscribed / signed front:
Location: At lower right.
Dated: No.
Text: ‘Emil. Carlsen.’.

Verso: unknown

ECA category: Waterscapes
ECA sub-category: Ships

Archives of American Art subjects:
Religion
Religion — New Testament
Religion — New Testament — Christ
Waterscape
Waterscape — Sea

Description of work:
Vertical composition of Jesus appearing on the water with a large sky and clouds above. At the painting foreground center is a small figure of Jesus that appears partially see-through on the water with a strong highlight in front of him. The mid-ground is a hazy horizon line approximately one-fifth of the painting from the bottom. The other four-fifths of the painting is sky and clouds. [ECA based on b&w photo of the painting.]

Provenance / ownership:
after 1934 owned by the National Cathedral but unlocated.
ca.1934 ( College of Preachers, Washington National Cathedral [1907- ], Wisconsin Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC ) ;
1934 ( Washington National Cathedral [1907- ], Wisconsin Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC (Accession December 11) ) ;
1932 Private collection of Luella Ruby May Carlsen [c.1869-before 1966], New York, NY, the artist’s wife
1913 Emil Carlsen [1848-1932], the artist

Exhibition history:
1934 College of Preachers, The National Cathedral College, Washington, DC, “[On view]”.
1932 National Academy of Design, New York, NY, “107th annual exhibition (winter)”, November 26 – December 21.
1932 Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY, “Paintings and sculpture by the Society of Scandinavian American Artists with a memorial group of paintings by Emil Carlsen with works by Dines Carlsen“, April 11 – May 15.
1927 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, “Fortieth annual exhibition of American paintings and sculpture”, October 27 – December 14.
1926 World’s Fair, Philadelphia, PA, “Sesquicentennial International Exposition”, June 1 – December 1, gold medal winner.
1925-1926 National Academy of Design, New York, NY, “Centennial exhibition National Academy of Design 1825-1925“, April 1-24, 1925; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, October 17 – November 15, 1925; The Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, NY, December 1, 1925 – January 3, 1926.
1923 Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, “Emil Carlsen exhibition”, June 1 – August 31.
1923 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, “The painting of Emil Carlsen“, April 3-29.
1923 The Art Club of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, “Exhibition of oil paintings by Lilian Westcott Hale, Emil Carlsen, and Charles H. Davis“, February 24 – March 18.
1921 Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, “The past presidents of the Salmagundi Club“, January 8-28.
1919 National Museum of the Luxembourg, Paris, France, “Exhibition of painting and sculpture by American artists”, October 6 – November 15.
1916 Department of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, “Post-exposition exhibition in the department of fine arts, Panama-Pacific International Exposition“, January 1 – May 1.
1915 City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, “10th annual exhibition of selected paintings by American artists,” September 12 – October 24.
1915 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, “One hundred and tenth annual exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts“, February 7 – March 28.
1914 National Academy of Design, New York, NY, “Winter exhibition“, December 19, 1914 – January 17, 1915
1913 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, “Twenty-six annual exhibition of oil painters and sculpture by American artists“, November 14 – December 25.
1913 Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, “Seventeenth annual exhibition of the Carnegie Institute“, April 24 – June 30.

References / citations:
– Art & Antiques, “Emil Carlsen : lyrical impressionist” by Gertrude Sill, March – April, 1980, pages 88-95, not illustrated, page 95.
– National Academy of Design, New York, NY, exhibition catalog, “Centennial exhibition National Academy of Design 1825-1925“, April 1-24, 1925; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, October 17 – November 15, 1925; The Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, NY, December 1, 1925 – January 3, 1926, page 7, #185, illustrated: b&w.
– The Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, WV, “First Presbyterian Church has 5,000-volume library“, February 11, 1961, page 3.
– “Archive of works by Emil Carlsen compiled by Dines Carlsen”, 24 pages, hand-drawn sketches and notes probably by Dines, provided by Linda Hay, ca.1960, illustrated: b&w, page 9.
– The new France : an illustrated monthly magazine of Franco-American relations, volumes 4-5, La France, November, “American art in Paris : works of prominent American artists at the Luxembourg”, by William A. Coffin, pages 75-76.
– The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, “The spring academy : two important figures in art world commemorated, Emil Carlson [sic] and John Gelatty—first Hallgarten prize not awarded“, Sunday, March 27, 1932, page 58, not illustrated.
– International Studio, “The lyricism of Emil Carlsen” by John Steele, October, 1927, volume 88, pages 53-60, illustrated: b&w.
– Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, exhibition catalog, “Fortieth Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture”, October 27 – December 14, 1927. Shown “O, Ye of Little Faith (39)”.
– “Sesquicentennial International Exposition gold medal for O ye of little faith” provided by Linda Hay, fair grounds for the World’s Fair, Philadelphia, PA, October 8, 1926.
– Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, exhibition catalog, “Emil Carlsen exhibition”, June 1 – August 31, 1923, #17.
– Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, exhibition catalog, “The painting of Emil Carlsen“, April 3-29, 1923, #1, not illustrated.
– Art Club of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, exhibition catalog, “Exhibition of oil paintings by Lilian Westcott Hale, Emil Carlsen, and Charles H. Davis“, February 24 – March 18, 1923, #20, not illustrated.
– Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, “The past presidents of the Salmagundi Club“, January 8-28, 1921, #34, not illustrated.
– Art in California by R. L. Bernier, San Francisco, CA, 1916, plate #74.
– Illustrated catalogue of the post-exposition exhibition in the department of fine arts, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California by department of fine art, San Francisco, CA, 1916.
– Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, exhibition catalog, “One hundred and tenth annual exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts“, February 7 – March 28, 1915, #428, illustrated: b&w, winner 2nd prize by visitors to the exhibit (Edward Bok Prize).
– The Civic Club Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA, “Free evening at Academy of the Fine Arts“, April, 1915, volume 8, number 8, page 5, not illustrated.
– National Academy of Design, New York, NY, exhibition catalog, “Winter exhibition“, December 19, 1914 – January 17, 1915, #271, not illustrated.
– Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, exhibition catalog, “Twenty-six annual exhibition of oil painters and sculpture by American artists“, November 14 – December 25, 1913, #60, not illustrated.
– St. Louis Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, “Last sunday for American exhibit at art museum“, October 24, 1915, sunday night edition, page 16.
– Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, PA, exhibition catalog, “Seventeenth annual exhibition of the Carnegie Institute“, April 24 – June 30, 1913, #51, not illustrated.
– The Mentor, “American sea painters” by Arthur Hoeber, The Associated Newspaper School, New York, NY, July 7, 1913, volume 1, number 21, pages 9-11, illustrated : b&w unnumbered page.
– Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, Image #JUL J0046828.

Related works:

ECA notes:

The new france : an illustrated monthly magazine of Franco-American relations, volumes 4-5, La France, November, “American art in Paris : works of prominent American artists at the Luxembourg”, by William A. Coffin, pages 75-76.
“Emil Carlsen, N.A., renowned for his marines with beautiful tints of blue in sky and sea, is represented in this collection by an important canvas, bearing the title, “O Ye of Little Faith.” In the forewaters of the sea, under a high sky of gray and white clouds with patches of tempered blue, the figure of Christ appears walking on the waves. It is an unusual conception, carried out with simplicity.”

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, “The spring academy : two important figures in art world commemorated, Emil Carlson [sic] and John Gelatty—first Hallgarten prize not awarded“, Sunday, March 27, 1932, page 58, not illustrated.
“…Emil Carlson’s [sic] impressive religious picture O Ye of Little Faith! hangs in the place of honor in the Vanderbilt Gallery and beside it is placed Mahonri Young’s portrait bust of the artist which has been awarded the Maynad portrait prize…”

St. Louis Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, “Last sunday for American exhibit at art museum“, October 24, 1915, sunday night edition, page 16.
“Oh Ye of Little Faith, Emil Carlsen, too, attempts more than his modern audience will sympathetically respond to in his picture of Christ walking upon the waters. Oh Ye of Little Faith is the text upon the frame. Upon careful analysis by an art critic, who is supposed to know, it appears that this outburst expresses the American artist’s viewpoint as to a public unable to “see” masterpieces until the masters are dead and gone.”

The Mentor, “American sea painters” by Arthur Hoeber, The Associated Newspaper School, New York, NY, July 7, 1913, volume 1, number 21, pages 9-11, illustrated : b&w unnumbered page.
…”His last work, one of the extraordinary canvases of modern times, is called O Ye of Little Faith, wherein he has painted a moonlight, but a moonlight of such dazzling paleness and brilliance, of such wonderful sky effect and alluring beauty, as to hold the spectator enamored. In the midst of this rather calm water, catching the most striking part of the light, walking on its surface, is the Savior. The artist has resisted all temptation to become over-sentimental with this figure, and has painted the Redeemer with a simplicity and a seriousness worthy the immortal theme. It is a fitting culmination to an honorable life of artistic endeavor, upon which he may well rest his reputation.”

– Painted in New York, NY in 1913.

– We are unable to locate a catalog for the 1932 Memorial exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. It may be because Carlsen had just past and it was all done rather quickly. For proof of the exhibition and the works shown we are using the museum’s own image of the exhibition and the Archive of works by Emil Carlsen compiled by Dines Carlsen which makes notes in the margins of which works were included. Also it appears that the works shown very closely match the show Carlsen had at the Macbeth Gallery a month before. We believe these are most probably the ones shown, minus the ones that sold with O Ye of Little Faith which was shown at the National Academy just before as well.

Price history:
1923 – $5,000 USD. [insurance value, worth $69,599.71 in 2014]

 

Document information

Document permalink:
https://emilcarlsen.org/work/?p=2622

Digital-born document number:
ECA.2014.2622

Digital document provenance:
Original compiled and researched document by the Emil Carlsen Archives, 266 West 21st Street, Suite 4E, New York, NY 10011.

Document license:
Creative Commons Corporation shareAlike (sa) license. Some of the information contained within this document may hold further publication restrictions depending on final use. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine.

Image license:
The author of this artwork died more than 70 years ago. According to U.S. Copyright Law, copyright expires 70 years after the author’s death. In other countries, legislation may differ.

Record birth date:
February 16, 2014

Last updated: January 16, 2021 at 3:47 am