ECA Control Number: 14985

Record Level: Digital Document

Record Type: Email Exchange

Number of Exchanges: 5

Exchange Initial From: Bill Indursky, Archive Director, ECA
Exchange Initial To: Eric W. Baumgartner, Senior Vice President, Hirschl & Adler Galleries

Exchange Begin Date: June 23, 2015 at 12:18 PM
Exchange End Date: June 30, 2015 at 7:44pm

ECA Notes:
– This exchange was to clarify provenance information from the Whitney Museum’s Carlsen, Girl Reading, ca.1897.

EMAILS

EXCHANGE 1
From: Bill Indursky
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at 12:18 PM
To: Eric Baumgartner
Subject: Emil Carlsen Archives

Hi Hirschl & Adler American Art Department-

My name is Bill Indursky and I am the director of the Emil Carlsen Archives, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Danish-American Impressionist/Realist painter Emil Carlsen [1848-1932]. The archive is the largest visual record of the artist’s work in the world with over 1000 works documented. They contain original documents and records for more than 600+ exhibitions of his work.

I know over the years you have handled many Emil Carlsen paintings. Currently we have your gallery handling seven works and I am sure there are many more.

Here are our records:
http://emilcarlsen.org/gallery/art-galleries/hirschl-adler-galleries

We would love to get any exhibition history, provenance, etc. for any of the paintings you have worked with of Carlsen’s. You of course can leave off your current customer’s name & location from the provenance (we are not doing this for any monetary gain). We are trying to work up a complete list of his works and preserve them for the future as well as provide today’s artists with large images for inspiration.

If you could view the site: http://emilcarlsen.org at let us know which works you handled and any other information that would be greatly appreciated!

b. rgds-

bill

Bill Indursky
Archive Director
Emil Carlsen Archives

EXCHANGE 2
On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 4:41 PM, Eric Baumgartner wrote:

Dear Bill:

Thank you for the email.

Hirschl & Adler Galleries has sold a total of eight (8) paintings by Emil Carlsen over the years. Not on our list are the two surf paintings from c. 1908 and 1912. These don’t appear in any of our records. Here is a list of Carlsen paintings that we have sold, with scanned photos attached:

APG 900
Red Jug and Chicken, 1893
Watercolor on paper, 12 x 10 in.
Signed and dated (at lower left): Emile Carlsen 93

EX COLL.: [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1969]; to [Houston Gallery, 1969]

APG 1681
Lady with Basket of Fruit, 1897
Oil on canvas, 48 3/4 x 42 in.
Signed and dated (at lower right): Emil Carlsen / 1897

EX COLL.: [A. M. Adler, 1973], to [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1974]; to [Craig and Tarleton, North Carolina]

NOTE: A study for this painting is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

APG 1627D
Girl Reading
Oil on canvas, 11 5/8 x 8 1/2 in.
Signed (at lower right): Emil Carlsen

EX COLL.: Margaret and Raymond Horowitz, New York; to Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; to [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1971]; to [Craig and Tarleton, North Carolina, 1974]

4940
Chrysanthemums, 1885
Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 46 1/4 in.
Signed and dated (at lower left): S. Emil Carlsen 85

EXHIBITED: Santa Fe East Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1984, 19th Century American Still Life Exhibition, illus. in color

EX COLL.: Herbert Grossberg; to [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1977]; to [Trosby Galleries, Palm Beach, Florida, 1978]; estate of Elizabeth W. Shelden; to sale, Christie’s New York, December 3, 1982, lot 138; to [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York]; to sale, Sotheby’s New York, December 5, 1985

APG 1029
Vase of Flowers, 1895
Oil on canvas, 34 3/4 x 24 3/4 in.
Signed and dated (at lower right): Emil Carlsen 95

EXHIBITED: Wortsman Rowe Galleries, San Francisco, California, and traveling, 1975, The Art of Emil Carlsen, 1853–1932, p. 38 no. 39 illus., as “Red Roses and Green Vase”

EX COLL.: [Spanierman Gallery, New York, 1968]; to [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1976]; to [Thomas Colville Fine Art, New York]

APG 920
Yellow Roses and Violets, 1897
Oil on canvas, 15 7/8 x 14 7/8 in.
Signed, dated, and inscribed (at lower left): To my Friend Leon Deutsch / Emil Carlsen 1897

RECORDED: Peter Mitchell, Great Flower Painters: Four Centuries of Floral Art (1973), pp. 79–80

EXHIBITED: Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1971, American Still Lifes of the Nineteenth Century, p. 8 no. 4 // R.W. Norton Gallery, Shreveport, LA, December 15–29, 1974, as “Roses”

EX COLL.: [Woloshuck, 1969]; to [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1975]; to [Thomas Colville Fine Art, New York]

3401
Arranging Flowers, 1886
Oil on canvas mounted on panel, 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.
Signed and dated (at upper left): EMIL CARLSEN 86

EX COLL.: [Davis and Long Company, New York, until 1976]; to private collection, New Hampshire, 1976–79; to [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1981]; to private collection

APG 513
Still Life with Brass Bowl
Oil on canvas, 18 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.
Signed (at lower left): Emil Carlsen

EXHIBITED: Wortsman Rowe Galleries, San Francisco, California, and traveling, 1975, The Art of Emil Carlsen, 1853–1932, p. 69 no. 40, illus. // Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 5–July 30, 1976, American Cornucopia: 19th Century Still Lifes and Studies, p. 37 no. 55, illus.

EX COLL.: [Vose Galleries, Boston, 1968]; to [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1976]; to [Thomas Colville Fine Art, New York]

I hope this is helpful.

Kind regards,

Eric

_________________
Eric W. Baumgartner
Senior Vice President

HIRSCHL & ADLER GALLERIES, INC.

730 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10019 USA
212.535.8810 p
212.772.7237 f

Attachments: 

EXCHANGE 3

From: Bill Indursky
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 1:54 PM
To: Eric Baumgartner
Subject: Re: Emil Carlsen Archives

Hi Eric-

Many thanks for the information. We have now updated our records.

1. RE: Girl Reading, c.1897

Seems your provenance conflicts with the Whitney Museums.

Here is the provenance they provided:
n.d. collection of the artist; -1964 collection of Margaret and Raymond J. Horowitz; 1964- Hirschl & Adler Galleries Inc., New York, New York (gift of Margaret and Raymond J. Horowitz); -1966 collection of Rita and Daniel Fraad, Jr., New York, New York; 1966 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (gift of Rita and Daniel Fraad, Jr.)

Could there be a mistake as the other painting (Girl with Apples, 1897) looks so similar?

http://emilcarlsen.org/portfolio/emil-carlsen-girl-reading-c-1897

2. RE: Surf Breaking, c.1908

I rechecked the Wortsman-Rowe Catalog and it claims that this painting was loaned from Hirschl & Adler.

Could it be a mistake?

Emil Carlsen Surf Breaking, c.1908

b. rgds-

bill

Bill Indursky
Archive Director
Emil Carlsen Archives
266 W21st Street,
Suite #4E
New York, NY 10011
tel: (212) 727-7072

EXCHANGE 4
On Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 3:38 PM, Eric Baumgartner wrote:

Dear Bill:

I don’t know what to say about Carlsen’s Surf Breaking. We have no record of it, but I suppose that the record could be lost.

With respect to Girl Reading, it is a little confusing to decipher our hand-written stock inventory cards, but the provenance that I provided you was my best interpretation from the information available. However, a closer look at the card suggests that the picture had a label from the Horowitz collection that said, “Source: Hirschl & Adler Galleries.” This indicates that we handled the picture more than once.

Since our records don’t explicitly state that the Horowitzes were the ones who gave the painting to the Whitney, I removed the “to” between them. This would allow for the Fraads’ intermediate ownership, as per the Whitney’s provenance. The Horowitzes and the Fraads were good friends, so it is likely that the painting passed between the two collections directly (thus warranting a “to” as a link). But since we have no way of knowing this, I guess that it’s prudent to leave it out.

Adding everything together, then:

EX COLL.: [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York]; to Margaret and Raymond J. Horowitz, New York, 1964; Rita and Daniel Fraad, Jr., New York, 1966; by gift to Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; to [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1974]; to [Craig and Tarleton, North Carolina, 1974]

Does that now make sense?

Kind regards,

Eric

___________________________________
Eric W. Baumgartner
Senior Vice President

Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc.

730 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10019 USA
212.535.8810 phone
212.772.7237 fax

EXCHANGE 5

From: Bill Indursky
To Eric
June 30, 2015 at 7:44pm

Hi Eric-

Many thanks!

b.rgds-

bill

Bill Indursky
Archive Director
Emil Carlsen Archives
266 W21st Street,
Suite #4E
New York, NY 10011
tel: (212) 727-7072

WORK BY EMIL CARLSEN

Document Information

Digital-born Document Number:
ECA.2016.14985

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:
September 17, 2016

Last Update:
September 17, 2016