A Witness to the People (1951) by Carl Gustaf Nelson. Copyright © Carl G. Nelson. All rights reserved.

About the Exhibit

This exhibit includes 20 black-and-white linoleum prints by Carl Nelson illustrating the Life of Christ along with three of Nelson’s oil paintings: Descent from the Cross, Christ in the Garden, and Angel. Nelson was noted for his beautiful pen and inks, oils, casein paintings, and handsome linoleum cuts.

About the Artist

Writing in the Boston Globe, longtime art critic Robert Taylor wrote:

Carl Nelson’s youthful forays into painting began a half-century-long career that earned him a reputation as one of New England’s finest artists. His artworks—heavily textured and colorful representations of nature—have been displayed in more than 20 museums nationwide, including the Chicago Art Institute and the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art.

He had the born teacher’s capacity to communicate, and as an artist-teacher he made a vital contribution to the postwar Boston art scene.

‘I never seem to get angels and birches out of my system,’ he said. ‘No two birches are alike, no two Maine islands are alike, and no two angels are alike.’

Every year, Mr. Nelson would take time away from painting angels and birch trees to create Christmas greetings for his friends. He wrote that he made linoleum-cut prints “based on the Life of Christ (with special emphasis on variant versions of the Christ head); intended as holiday gifts for friends; done in editions of approximately fifty.”

—Chris Pollari