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Highlights

Samuel S. Carr (American 1837 - 1908) Victorian Artist

19th Century Fine Art Legacy

Not much is known of Carr’s early life and art training; however, it is likely that he received some formal training while in England, where he was born. Circa 1865, he immigrated to New York City and from 1870 to 1907, he lived with his sister and brother-in-law in Brooklyn. We can presume that Carr had received art training in England, as his work in the United States shows the skill of a talented and experienced artist, although he did take a mechanical drawing class at the Cooper Union in New York City. Further, Carr shared a studio with landscape painter Clinton Loveridge. One cannot imagine that Loveridge would share a studio with an artist of mediocre talent.

Following the Civil War, America’s beaches, such as Coney Island, became popular as family resorts and Carr, as described in an essay by Elizabeth Garrity Ellis, “depicted the sights of children at play, strolling photographers, and the acrobats and puppeteers who wandered the beach in search of an audience.” As “holidays at the sea” had been a popular subject among British genre painters, it is not surprising that Carr would engage in a similar theme. Some writers have suggested the Carr used photographs to paint his Coney Island beach scenes; however, it is more likely that, according to Elizabeth Garrity Ellis, the somewhat orderly progression of these scenes was due to the influence of the camera obscura, a devise located in a pavilion there, that used mirrors to project real-time images from areas of Coney Island onto a screen – a sort of 19th century “movie.”

Most of Carr’s beach scenes were done between 1879 and 1880. He shifted from his beach scenes to genre, pastoral scenes and landscapes in the 1890s. Both he and Clinton Loveridge made their living from bucolic landscapes with cows, sheep, or goats, which were very popular during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Carr is best known today for his genre scenes, often a mother with a child or children engaged in activities common at that time.

Carr was a member of the Brooklyn Art Club and served as president, at one time. He exhibited at Brooklyn Art Association (1871-89, 1891); Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia, 1881-90); and the National Academy of Design (1889-94, as S.S. Carr).

Use only with the permission of Bedford Fine Art Gallery.

References:

Atkinson, D. Scott, 1953-; Neff, Terry Ann R, 1978, A proud heritage--two centuries of American art by Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Terra Museum of American Art.

Falk, Peter, ed., 1999, Who Was Who in American Art, Sound View Press, Madison, CT.

Novak, Barbara; Ellis, Elizabeth Garrity, De Pury, Simon, Sammlung Thyssen-Bornemisza, 1986, Nineteenth-century American painting; Vendome Press, New York, N.Y.

Sullivan, David A., 2015, The Comprehensive History of Coney Island, www.heartofconeyisland.com)

Zellman, Michael, David, 1987, 300 Years of American Art, Volume I, pg. 287, Wellfleet Press.

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Jerry & Joan - Thanks for your hospitality and helping us find this beautiful new piece for our home. Until next time...

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