John Carlson

(1875-1945)

My first contact with John Carlson occurred in 1966, three years prior to the rock concert, when I visited Woodstock, New York with my folks and stopped into the studio of the prominent watercolorist John Pike. During the conversation, Pike suggested that we seek out the work of John Carlson, generally considered the major teacher and sprit of the Woodstock School. As I recall, we were pointed towards a locked garage with nobody around. Peering through the windows of the garage, it was filled with canvases that appeared to be mostly snowscapes. We were never able to gain access to the interior space and returned home empty-handed, but our appetites were whetted. Early in 1967, a quintessential snowscape became available at the Grand Central Gallery and my father purchased the piece. Several years later, I obtained a smaller, crisp snow scene. Carlson’s distinctive naturalist approach to winter landscapes spawned a group of Woodstock snowpainters including, Walter Koeniger, Cecil Chichester, Frank Swift Chase and Allan Cochran. As an artist, teacher, and author of the 1929 instructional book Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting, John Carlson made a lasting contribution to American art and provided Woodstock with a lasting image for something other than a vast, muddy field packed with screaming youth and a low-hanging, distinctive- smelling gray haze. Thank you, Mr. Carlson.