Entrance to St. Thomas Harbor (aka: Entrance to the Harbor of St. Thomas), 1915
Emil Carlsen [1848-1932]
Oil on canvas
40 x 60 inches

Signed: At lower right in red paint. ‘Emil. Carlsen. 1915.’.

ECA Control #: 3876

Archives of American Art #: 87230433

Archives of American Art Subjects:
Waterscape
Waterscape — Coast
Waterscape — Harbor
Waterscape — Harbor — St. Thomas Harbor
Landscape
Landscape — Rocks

Description:

Provenance:
1938 Reading Public Museum [1998- ], 500 Museum Rd, Reading, PA 19611, Museum purchase  (Accession #1938.276.1)
1932 Luella May (Ruby) Carlsen [c.1869-before 1966], New York, NY, the artist’s wife
1915 Emil Carlsen [1848-1932], the artist

Title History:
2011: Entrance to the Harbor of St. Thomas [from exhibition catalog]
1915: Entrance to St. Thomas Harbor [newpaper article]

Exhibitions:
2011-2015 Springfield Art Museums, Springfield, MA, “American Impressionism: The Lure of the Artists’ Colony”, July 14 – October 25, 2015; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH, March 21 – June 14, 2015; Frazier History Museum, Louisville, KY, October 3, 2014 – February 1, 2015; Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, VA, June 1 – August 4, 2013; Reading Public Museum, Reading, PA, September 24, 2011 – January 29, 2012.
1916 National Academy of Design, New York, NY (held at the Fine Arts Society Galleries),  “Ninety-First Annual Exhibition”, March 18-April 23, 1916.
1916 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, “One Hundred and Eleventh Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts“, February 6-March 26, Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal Winner.
1915 National Academy of Design, New York, NY, “Winter Exhibition”, December 18, 1915 – January 16, 1916.

References:
– Reading Public Museum, Reading PA, Exhibition Catalog, “American Impressionism: The Lure of the Artists’ Colony“, Springfield Art Museums, Springfield, MA, “American Impressionism: The Lure of the Artists’ Colony”, July 14 – October 25, 2015; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH, March 21 – June 14, 2015; Frazier History Museum, Louisville, KY, October 3, 2014 – February 1, 2015; Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, VA, June 1 – August 4, 2013; Reading Public Museum, Reading, PA, September 24, 2011 – January 29, 2012.
– Iap Clippings File, N.d.
– National Academy of Design, New York, NY (held at the Fine Arts Society Galleries), Exhibition Catalog, “Ninety-First Annual Exhibition”, March 18-April 23, 1916.
– Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Exhibition Catalog, “One Hundred and Eleventh Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts“, February 6-March 26, 1916, Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal Winner.
– The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY,  “Academy of Design In Winter Show“, December 18, 1915, Page 20.

Notes:

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, “Academy of Design In Winter Show“, December 18, 1915, Page 20
“On either side of the statue are landscapes, Emil Carlsen’s Entrance to St. Thomas Harbor, a gray mass of stone standing against the dimpled, blue ocean surface, over which summer clouds lazily float…”

– Information provided by Ashley J. Hamilton of the Reading Public Museum via email on August 3, 2015.

– Image: Soren Emil Carlsen (American (Danish born), 1848-1932), Entrance to the Harbor of St. Thomas, 1915, oil on canvas, 40 x 60” unframed, 55 1/8 x 65 ¼ x 3” framed.  Signed LR “Emil Carlsen 1915”. Courtesy of the Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.

– There are at least four known variations of this composition/location by Carlsen.  Carlsen produced these paintings for several years after visiting the Caribbean on a family trip in 1913.  There is also some evidence that he may have visited the Caribbean again with his family in 1916.  The largest of the four paintings, this one, Entrance to St. Thomas Harbor, 1915, a giant at 40 x 60 inches, won the Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA in 1916.

Price History:

Document Information

Digital-born Document Number:
ECA.2014.3876

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:
August 24, 2014

Last Update:
September 10, 2016