I am a granddaughter of Charles A.
Kaeselau, the artist of the Concord Post Office's mural (see previous article about the mural here). He is pictured at right with my father painting on the beach in Provincetown (click on image for larger view). My husband came
across your article "by accident" by searching the Internet.
My grandfather married another artist while at the Chicago Institute of
Art. Her name was Marguerite Benjamin, an illustrator. They had two sons;
Charles Jr. (Chris, who just passed away in February) and Jean, my Dad.
(My Dad has 4 children, and aside from our kids, we are the only blood
relatives left.)
Marguerite Benjamin Kaeselau worked for Ginn & Co. Publishing, in book illustration, as well as Jordan Marsh and Filene's doing fashion illustration etc. She also did glassware in the 30's. She died unexpectedly, when my father was quite young.
Not long after her death, my grandfather rented(?) a studio in his hometown of Provincetown, that was big enough to paint the huge mural for the Concord P.O. The mural was painted in it's entirety in this studio. My Dad remembers seeing him working on it there. He does not know, however, how long it took him to complete or how it was shipped to Concord.
Much of my grandfather's past remains a "mystery" to us, because at this
approximate time, he felt that he could not properly raise his sons alone,
and sent them to private schools and homes in other places, away from
Provincetown. The boys were separated much of their lives, and were
unaware of a lot of the statistics of my grandfather's life. They did come
home to Provincetown periodically, however.
My family owns only four of Grandpa's paintings (one is pictured here; click on the image to see a larger view). My grandfather sold
his work to live, and what was left at the end of his life, was kept by his
last wife. We have never seen any other pieces, except the mural in
Concord, and I believe there was a piece in a bank in Provincetown at one
time, though I never saw it personally.As an artist myself, I wish I could sit down and "pick the brain" of my Grandfather now! Oh, what he could teach me!! Unfortunately, he died when I was only eight, but I still study the paintings at my parents home in Dennis. I hope to get to Concord in the very near future to take photos of his work, and show my four boys a piece of their heritage.
While I am "climbing the artist's ladder" myself, I can clearly recognize the huge influence my grandfather (and grandmother) have had on me, through my father. I realize that he has exposed me to this incredible talent my whole life. It is part of me, and have always felt that their blood runs through me. I can attribute my interest in art to this influence.
Thank you for the great information!! My family was thrilled to see the article. If anyone finds out anything else about the mural, Charles A. or Marguerite Benjamin Kaeselau, please let us know. If anyone knows of any paintings out there by my grandparents, I would love to have photos of them for our family records!
By the way, you pronounced Kaeselau correctly....(people never get it
right!) but "Kare" is actually "Karl".
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