Martha Catherine Codman Karolik (July 24, 1858 – April 21, 1948) was a philanthropist and American art collector based in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1939 and 1947 she and her husband

Maxim Karolik Maxim Karolik (November 21, 1893 – December 20, 1963), born in what is now Ukraine, he became a featured tenor for the Imperial Russian Grand Opera (later known as the Petrograd Grand Opera). He toured in Europe as a young man. He left Russia d ...

donated two major collections of early American furniture, paintings, and prints and drawings to the

Boston Fine Arts Museum The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings ...

, which built a new wing to house it. While the couple had purchased many of the nineteenth-century paintings and other works of their 1947 donation, much of the first collection donated in 1939 consisted of works she had inherited, which were collected by family and colonial ancestors.

Biography

Martha Catherine Codman was born on July 24, 1858, in a family whose wealth was built largely from the Russian and China clipper trade. She was the only surviving child of

John Amory Codman __NOTOC__ John Amory Codman (1824-1886) was an artist in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 19th century. He was affiliated with the New England Art Union, and kept a studio in Amory Hall in the 1850s. His wealth came from the Russian and China clippe ...

(1824–1886) and Martha Pickman Rogers (1829–1905). She grew up in Newport, Rhode Island, and Boston. She was the great-great-granddaughter of merchant Elias Hasket Derby, considered America's first millionaire. In 1923 she published the journal of her ancestor, Catherine Willard, as ''Journal of Mrs. John Amory''. Codman-Davis House

In 1907, she commissioned her cousin

Ogden Codman Jr. Ogden Codman Jr. (January 19, 1863 – January 8, 1951) was an American architect and interior decorator in the Beaux-Arts styles, and co-author with Edith Wharton of ''The Decoration of Houses'' (1897), which became a standard in American inte ...

to build a private house in Washington, DC; it was later known as the Codman–Davis House. He took inspiration from the Château de Voisins, Louveciennes, Seine et Oise. She also commissioned him to build nearby supporting structures of stables and apartments, known as the

Codman Carriage House and Stable The Codman Carriage House and Stable is a historic building located at 1415 22nd Street NW (also listed as 1413-1415 22nd Street NW) in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The industrial building was constructed in 1907 as a carr ...

. In 1928 at the age of 69, Codman married

, a much younger Russian opera singer. Martha Codman Karolik sold her Washington, DC house in 1938, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. In 1995 the Codman-Davis House was serving as the official residence of the Ambassador of Thailand, and it is one of the few intact homes designed by Ogden Codman Jr. He also designed the

, which later served variously as a store, nightclub, and office space. In 1910 Codman commissioned her cousin again, to design what was known as "Berkeley Villa" (now Bellevue House), a Colonial Revival mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, where she spent most summers. Later the house was owned by Jane Pickens Hoving, an American singer on Broadway, radio and television for 20 years. She was married to Walter Hoving, owner of

Tiffany & Company Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watc ...

and Bonwit Teller. Ronald Lee Fleming, an urban planner, bought the house in 1999. Bellevue House was Ogden Codman's last project in Newport. It now houses part of the American art collection that Martha Codman amassed, at first by herself and then with her husband. On February 2, 1928, Martha Codman married

(1893-1963), a Russian opera singer by profession, scandalizing Boston society. He was 30 or 35 years younger than she. Martha Codman was a leader in Newport, a member of

Art Association of Newport Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of what ...

Garden Club A garden club is an organized group of people with a shared interest in gardening, gardens, and plants. A flower club is a similar group with a focus on flowers. History The first and oldest organized garden club in the United States is the Ladie ...

Improvement Association Improvement is the process of a thing moving from one state to a state considered to be better, usually through some action intended to bring about that better state. The concept of improvement is important to governments and businesses, as well a ...

, Newport Historical Society, and

Redwood Library The Redwood Library and Athenaeum is a subscription library, museum, rare book repository and research center founded in 1747, and located at 50 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. The building, designed by Peter Harrison and completed ...

. In 1944 Maxim Karolik bought '' Expulsion from the Garden of Eden'' by Thomas Cole. Martha Codman donated the painting to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1947. This painting is still held by the museum and can be seen on display in their galleries."Expulsion from the Garden of Eden"
/ref> It was among 225 paintings the couple donated to the museum in 1947, works that are largely from the period 1815-1865. Martha Codman Karolik died on April 21, 1948.

Legacy

In 1939 the Karoliks donated their 18th-century collection of American paintings, furniture, silver and other examples of art to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It totaled 300 pieces, and the museum built a wing for it. Martha Codman had inherited many pieces in this collection from near family and colonial ancestors. At the time it was valued at $400,000 ($ in dollars). In 1947, the couple donated some 225 paintings to the museum, chiefly by American artists of the period 1815-1865. The Martha & Maxim Karolik Collection of American Paintings (1815-1865) is considered one of the most important collection of American pictures in public or private hands of that period. The Karolik-Codman family papers (1714-1964) are hosted at the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bost ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karolik, Martha Codman 1858 births 1948 deaths