Emil Carlsen

Born in Copenhagen on 19 October 1848, Carlsen emigrated in his early twenties and taught himself to paint largely through close looking. He became the first drawing and painting instructor at the Chicago Academy of Design, then moved to San Francisco to direct the California School of Design from 1887^[2] to 1889. By the time he settled on the East Coast, he had developed the muted tonal harmonies and luminous glazes that define his best work: copper vessels, fish, game, and ceramic bowls arranged with an almost architectural deliberateness.

His friendships with John Twachtman and Julian Alden Weir placed him within the core of American Impressionism, though Carlsen remained somewhat apart from their plein-air enthusiasm. He preferred the controlled light of his studio, and the quality of his surfaces, built up across many glazed layers, rewards close inspection in a way that outdoor work rarely does.

Recognition came steadily: a Gold Medal at the 1904^[2] Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St Louis, a Medal of Honor at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915. His son Dines, born in 1901, also became a painter of note. Carlsen taught at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

He died in New York on 2 January 1932^[2]. His still lifes are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian, and the Dallas Museum of Art.