Arthur Beecher Carles (American, 1882-1952) Portrait of Leopold Stokowski Signed 'CARLES' bottom right, oil on canvas 28 x 24 in. (71.1 x 61cm) Executed circa 1917. PROVENANCE: The Artist. A gift from the above. Collection of Leopold Stokowski. David David Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Acquired directly from the above in 1969. Collection of Dr. Henry and Ms. Fannie Levine, Philadelphia. NOTE: Born in London in 1882, Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) began his career as an orchestra conductor in Cincinnati in late 1909, after training in London, Paris and New York. He came to Philadelphia to direct the city's Orchestra in 1912, a position which earned him international recognition. There, Stokowski became an integral part of the local art scene and started a life-long friendship with Arthur B. Carles, who shared the same birth year. The artist's views on modern art echoed those of the composer's, whose self-declared mission was to introduce Philadelphians to complex modern music by composers such as Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Erik Satie (1866-1925), Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) and Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951). Stokowski rapidly became known for modifying the orchestration of some of the works he conducted, as well as for his eccentric mannerisms, including conducting without a baton to adopt more theatrical gestures instead. In the late 1910s/early 1920s, painting and music were both at the forefront of a period of cultural renaissance in Philadelphia; the Orchestra and the Academy acting as its two main forces. "There was a sense of excitement and synergy that made Philadelphia seem a little like Paris, and Carles was very much at the center of all that was going on" said Barbara Wolanin. Stokowski and Carles were close, the two even considering collaborating on a production of Scirabin's Oprheus, with Carles designing the play of coloured light. The present portrait was executed early on during the two men's friendship, when both explored the medium of etching, and used to paint each other. See More