Carl Olaf Eric Lindin
Born Sweden, 1869
Died New York, 1942

Carl Lindin left his homeland of Sweden in 1887 for the United States. He settled in Chicago, Illinois and studied at the Chicago Art Institute.

In 1893, Lindin traveled to France to study painting. During the four years he spent in Paris, the young artist studied under Benjamin Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens at the Academie Julien and with Aman-Jean.

Lindin returned to Chicago in 1897. While in Chicago, Lindin became close friends with Hervey White, a writer and poet. Both men formed associations with Jane Addams' Hull-House, a social settlement and relief organization for immigrants established in 1889.

Shortly after the turn of the century, White invited Lindin to join him near Woodstock, New York, to help with the construction of the fledgling Byrdcliffe art colony (forerunner to the Woodstock Artists Association). White and Lindin took up residence in an abandoned Lutheran church they rented. The church was renovated after Lindin married Louise Hastings, and the couple made their home there.

Lindin is one of five artists credited as founding members of the Woodstock Artists Association. Although Lindin was considered to be a member of the traditional side, he served as mediator between the traditionalists and the modernists, believing that both factions of the Association deserved equal representation. Lindin also served as Chairman of the Board for the Woodstock Friends of Art. Founded in 1932, the Friends goal was to provide aid for artists in the time of hardship that resulted from the Depression. Lindin also worked during this time to secure work for artists with the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). In 1934, Lindin helped found the Woodstock Memorial Society.

Lindin often painted landscapes and described himself as a "painter of moonlight and night". His early work shows Tonalist and Post-Impressionist influence while he experimented with expressionism during the 1920's.

Exhibited: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1898-1901, 1913; Corcoran Gallery, biennials, 1914-37 (5 times); Swedish Club Chicago, 1919 (prize), 1925-28 (prizes); National Academy of Design; Detroit Institute of Art; Chicago Art Institute; James Cox Gallery, Woodstock, New York, 1993 (retrospective).

Works held: Brooks Memorial Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee; Hull House, Chicago; Vanderpoel Artists Association, Chicago; Woodstock Artists Association, New York; Bard College, Annandale, new York; Springville Museum, Utah; Snow College, Ephraim, Utah; Brigham City Museum, Utah.

Further Reading: The Founders of the Woodstock Artists Association Exhibition Catalog, Carol B. Brener, ed., Woodstock Artists Association, Woodstock , New York, 2000.; Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. 2. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds., Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols.; Woodstock's Art Heritage: the Permanent Collection of the Woodstock Artists Association, historical survey by Tom Wolf; published for the Woodstock Artist's Association by Overlook Press, Woodstock, New York, 1987.

Biography courtesy of David Cook Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/davidcook