Karolik Collection: American Antique Furniture & Americana, Inscribed by Karolik - $250 - (Northampton, MA)

“Eighteenth Century American Arts. The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Paintings, Drawings, Engravings, Furniture, Silver, Needlework & Incidental Objects Gathered to Illustrate the Achievements of American Artists and Craftsmen of the Period from 1720 to 1820” By Edwin J. Hipkiss. Published by the Harvard University Press in 1941. description continues below the picture- - - - DISCUSSION: The first edition of this well illustrated and important catalog of this major collection of American furniture, silver and accessories. "This beautifully printed volume, set in Monotype Bembo and with full-tone collotype illustrations, established a high visual standard for furniture catalogs that was emulated by Joseph Downs in the 1950s and Morrison Hecksher in the 1980s. The catalog includes 125 examples of high-style furniture, the vast majority from Massachusetts and Rhode Island, although some superb Philadelphia objects are included. These objects are not included in Richard Randall's 1965 catalog. Karolik's musings, "As I Reflect upon the Collection", provide a fascinating look at the mind of an idiosyncratic collector" -Ames & Ward. Maxim Karolik (1893-1963) was a Russian opera singer, immigrant, and art collector and benefactor who cut a swath through the Boston and American collecting scenes. The magnificent bequests of American furniture and paintings he and his wife made to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts earned them a place in the pantheon of Boston's patrons of the arts, and their rediscovery and championing of the works of Fitz Hugh Lane and Martin Johnson Heade, along with 19th century American fine and folk artists earned them a place in American collecting lore. The Karoliks deflected such honors, and in an open letter to the MFA's Director, Maxim Karolik declared "We are not 'Patrons of Art' or 'Public Benefactors.' We refuse to accept these banal labels. We accept with pleasure only one label: 'Useful'." Semowich 1352. DESCRIPTION: Hardcover. 9.25"x12", 3…

Posted in Northampton, MA, Antiques
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