Emil Carlsen : The Constitution, 1881.

ECA record control number: 7854  [new #33889]

Archives of American Art #: -none-

Record level: Item

Record type: Movable work

Work title: The Constitution  [from sale catalog]

Alternate work titles:
2025 : The Constitution  [from sale catalog]
1977 : The Constitution [from exhibition catalog]
1920 : The Constitution [from magazine article]

Work date: 1881 [from artist’s son notes]

Work creator: Emil Carlsen [1848-1932]

Work medium: Oil on canvas laid on board
Work dimensions: 16 x 20 inches [unframed] | 15-1/2 x 19-1/2 inches [unframed] | 27 x 31 inches [framed]

Inscribed / signed front: ‘EMIL. CARLSEN. 81-‘.

Verso:
Marking type: Printed and typed white horizontally rectangular gallery exhibition label [ripped].
Location: Top left corner of verso frame.
Text: ‘HAMMER GALLERIES [printed] / [ripped]NE EAST FIFTY-SEVENTH STREET [middle dot] NEW YORK, N.Y.  10022 [printed] / EMIL CARLSEN EXHIBITION / [ripped]n. 24 – Feb. 19, 1977 / board: 16 x 20″ [typewritten]’.

Marking type: Typed white horizontally rectangular gallery sticker.
Location: Bottom left corner of verso frame.
Text: ‘U?? / R-8113′.

Marking type: Black felt tip marker numbers written and crossed out.
Location: Upper left frame verso and work board upper left verso. Likely a restorers’ number.
Text: ‘[line above] / C26551-5 / H25930-3 [crossed out] / C26551-5 [on board upper left verso]’.

ECA category: Waterscape
ECA sub-category: Ships

Archives of American Art subjects:
Architecture
Architecture — Boat
Waterscape
Waterscape — Boat
Waterscape — Coast

Description of work:

Provenance / ownership:
2025 [tba] ;
2025 ( Heritage Auctions, Inc. [1976- ], 17th Floor, 3500 Maple Ave, Dallas, TX 75219 ) ;
ca.1977 Private collection of [unknown], Palm Beach, FL ;
ca.1977 ( Hammer Galleries [1928- ], 32 East 67th Street, Second Floor, New York, NY 10065 ) ;
1975 Estate of Florence B. G. S. Carlsen [1903-1974], Falls Village, CT, the artist’s daughter-in-law ;
1966 Private collection of Florence B. G. S. Carlsen [1903-1974], Falls Village, CT, the artist’s daughter-in-law ;
before 1966 Private estate of Dines Carlsen [1901-1966], Falls Village, CT, the artist’s son ;
1932 Private collection of Luella May (Ruby) Carlsen [c.1869-before 1966], New York, NY, the artist’s wife ;
after 1920 Private collection of Emil Carlsen [1848-1932] [it is unclear if the work never sold and Russell was a friend or fellow artist trying to sell the work on behalf of Carlsen or if Carlsen bought it back but it seems to have been back with the family by 1920] ;
1920 Private collection of [unknown] Russell [?-?], Boston?, MA? ;
1920 ( O’Reilly’s Plaza Art Galleries, 9, 11 and 13 East 59th Street, New York, NY ) ;
1881 Emil Carlsen [1848-1932], the artist .

Exhibition history:
2025 Heritage Auctions, Inc. [1976- ], Dallas, TX, “Fine & Decorative Arts Showcase Auction #13228”, June 12.
1977 Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA, “Pere et fils: Art of Emil and Dines Carlsen“, August 20 – October 23.
1977 Hammer Galleries, New York, “Emil Carlsen Retrospective,” January 24-February 19.
1920 O’Reilly’s Plaza Art Galleries, New York, NY, “Auction”, February 6.

References / citations:
– Heritage Auctions, Inc. [1976- ], Dallas, TX, “Fine & Decorative Arts Showcase Auction #13228”, June 12, 2025.
– Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA, exhibition catalog, “Pere et fils: Art of Emil and Dines Carlsen“, August 20 – October 23, 1977, #14, not illustrated.
– Hammer Galleries, New York, NY, “Emil Carlsen Retrospective,” January 24-February 19, 1977.
– “Archive of Works by Emil Carlsen Compiled by Dines Carlsen”, 24 pages, hand-drawn sketches and notes probably by Dines, provided by Linda Hay, c1960, page 1.
– American Art Annual, New York, NY, “Auction sales”, 1920, volume 67, page ?, not illustrated.

Related works:

ECA notes:
– Painted in Boston, MA in 1881 for the retirement of the ship “The Constitution” in 1881.
– Condition Report: “Presents very well. Small brown pin dot to foreground above signature. UV examined. Not examined outside of frame.” via Heritage Auctions.

Price history:
2025 – [tba] ;
1977 – [Price unknown] [retail] ;
1930 – [Price unknown] [auction] ;

Document information

Document permalink:
https://emilcarlsen.org/work/?p=33889

Digital-born document number:
ECA.2018.33889

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:
January 5, 2015

Last updated:

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