Mid Century Modernist Oil Portrait Painting by Woodstock Art Colony Artist Carolyn Haeberlin 1956 "Indian"

Details

Description

This mid-century oil portrait painting on canvas of a little boy is by the Woodstock Art Colony artist Carolyn Haeberlin … Read more This mid-century oil portrait painting on canvas of a little boy is by the Woodstock Art Colony artist Carolyn Haeberlin (1913-2000). Displaying a distinct Mid-Century American Modernist style, this painting is signed on the lower right front bottom "Haeberlin"and again signed dated "1956" and titled "Indian"on the back canvas and on the back top stretcher bar.

The 1950s marked the "Golden Age" of toy guns, a time when playtime was heavily influenced by the explosion of Western movies and TV shows like The Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers. During this era, playing "Cowboys and Indians"—as depicted in this painting was a cornerstone of childhood. Children emulated heroes who "ridded territories of villains," leading to a massive demand for toy revolvers, holsters, and outfits.

This painting illustrates how Haeberlin viewed painting as an accessible, extension of regular life. She focused on immediate subjects from her everyday life and surroundings. During her early career, she painted inside a small home studio. As her family grew, she moved her operations into a large converted barn on her property. Virtually all of her landscape imagery drew from her immediate natural surroundings and her portraits from the 1950s frequently captured the realities of her every day family life.

Her painterly signature style of using simplified figuration borders on a charming Folk Art sensibility. A muted yet defined palette makes a bold primary contrast—balancing a saturated crimson shirt against a cool, mottled pale blue backdrop. The earthy, subdued browns and brilliant primary colors on the feathers add visual hierarchy without overcrowding the canvas. A psychological flatness and candid stare creates facial features that are minimalist and stylized. The child's oversized blue eyes look directly forward, capturing a serene, introspective mood typical of her figurative work. A small toy gun is quietly pointed toward the viewer.

Carolyn Haeberlin was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1913. She earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago. She later relocated to New York City to refine her fine art practice, studying painting under the prominent American Modernist master Arnold Blanch. Haeberlin spent most of her adult and married life living and working in Woodstock, New York, alongside her husband, fellow modernist painter Reginald Wilson.

Throughout her career, Haeberlin heavily exhibited in Manhattan and regional mid-Atlantic venues. She was an active member of the historic Woodstock Artists Association (WAAM), where she won numerous competitive prizes, in addition to receiving the Yasuo Kuniyoshi Fund Award and the Lucile Blanch Award. Her work has been shown at The Art Institute of Chicago, National Academy of Design, Albany Institute of Art and the Woodstock Art Association.

There is a Petrucci Gallery label on the back of this painting with a price tag of $1,000. The legendary Petrucci Gallery was established in 1975 in Saugerties, New York and was a prominent Hudson Valley art venue. It was owned and operated by artist and lithographer Walter Francis Petrucci. The gallery featured American paintings, sculptures and fine art prints from the 1920’s to the 1990’s. It was noted for presenting works of present and past Woodstock artists as well as established regional artists. Before closing in 1994, the gallery organized more than one hundred seventy-five solo artist or group exhibitions, plus six traveling exhibitions, and two international exhibitions.

The painting measures 22 inches wide by 28 inches high framed to a dimension of 23 inches wide by 29 inches high.
The painting is in very good condition with minimal wear. The canvas is tight and intact and without repairs. The painting is framed in a vintage primitive wooden strip frame that is original to the painting. The frame is in very good condition with the usual vintage wear. The reverse side of the stretcher bar on the lower right side looks like the wood split when the frame was nailed on but it does not affect the structural integrity of the frame or painting. Please view the last photo where I captured this.

Paintings from the historic Woodstock Art Colony are highly collected and occupy an important place in the canon of American art. Founded in 1902 in upstate New York, Woodstock is considered America's first intentionally created, year-round arts colony. Because the colony embraced a massive diversity of styles—ranging from Tonalist landscapes to radical Modernism and Precisionism—prices in the collector's market fluctuate widely based on the artist’s individual prominence, moving from around $1,000 for lesser known regional impressionists up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for blue-chip masters. This painting offers an accessible entry point for collectors looking for authentic colony pieces to add to a new or existing collection. See less