Charles S. Kaelin
American (1858-1929)
Kaelin was born in Cincinnati, and studied art at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, as well as privately with John Henry Twachtman.From 1879 to 1892, Kaelin lived in New York, enrolling in classes at the Art Students League and then working as a lithographer and painting during his spare time. He returned to Cincinnati in 1892 and worked at a lithography company designing theater posters, calendars and other forms of advertising art.
Kaelin took many sketching trips throughout Ohio and Kentucky, and in the summer of 1900, made his first trip to Gloucester, Massachusetts at the urging of his friend and fellow artist, Frank Duveneck. He continued to make seasonal visits to the North Shore for well over a decade and eventually settled in Rockport permanently in 1916.There he spent his time rendering the sun-dappled harbor, as in “Motif #1, Rockport,” and the nearby woodland forests.
Kaelin’s work was frequently displayed at the annual exhibitions of the Cincinnati Art Museum. In 1915, he was awarded a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition for his pastels. His work was also exhibited at the Boston Art Club and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He was also a founding member of the Rockport Art Association in 1921.