Charles Kaelin Pastel Drawing of Harbor Scene

Item Details

Untitled, early 20th century
Pastel on paper
Signed “C.S. Kaelin” to lower left

A early 20th century pastel drawing on paper by Charles S. Kaelin (1858 – 1929). Portrayed in an Impressionist manner with loose, abbreviated strokes, this work features a habor scene. The work is faintly signed ‘C.S. Kaelin’ to the lower left. It is presented under glass in a gold-tone gesso and wood frame with a canvas liner and gold-tone fillet.

Born in Cincinnati, Charles Salis Kaelin studied at the McMicken School of Design under John Henry Twachtman and Thomas Satterwhite Noble. In 1879 he moved to New York City, where he studied at the Art Students League and worked as a lithographer for more than a decade. After returning to Cincinnati, Kaelin joined the Strobridge Lithographic Company and worked as a designer for advertisements, such as calendars and theater posters. However, the artist eventually gained a reputation for his pastels, resulting in a solo exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Museum in 1899.

Urged by his friend and famed artist Frank Duveneck, Kaelin made his first trip to Gloucester in 1900, where he was acquainted with other Impressionists including John Twachtman, Theodore Wendel, and Childe Hassam. As a result, the artist took a greater interest in key impressionistic elements, such as light and color, thereby abandoning his older tonal style. It was at this time that he also started to employ the Divisionist technique, a signature style of Neo-Impressionism. Kaelin’s development of the technique eventually dubbed him as one of the earlist American pioneers of Divisionism. The artist’s work has been collected and exhibited by numerous institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, among many others.

Condition

- minor wear scattered throughout frame.

Dimensions

- measurement of frame; visible image measures approximately 15.75" W x 11.5" H.

Item #

18DCC800-442