The Carlin Brothers: John and Andrew

The older of the two brothers, John Carlin.

Quick Facts

Significance:

Deaf artists during the 1800s

Place of Birth:

Philadelphia, Pennyslvania

Date of Birth:

John: 1813 and Andrew: 1816

Date of Death:

John: 1891 and Andrew: 1871

The Carlin brothers, both Deaf artists, grew up in Philadelphia during the early 1800s. They had humble childhoods with very little formal education.

John Carlin overcame this to be the first Deaf American artist to study abroad. In order to afford art school, he worked odd jobs, including being a sign and house painter. His success in US art schools eventually led him to study art in London and France in 1838. He returned to New York in 1841 and set-up a studio as a miniaturist. He switched to oil paintings later once miniaturist work faded in popularity.

John painted many portraits of individuals who would eventually become prominent in the Civil War. Jefferson Davis commissioned him to paint a portrait of Davis’s son. William H. Seward requested the same for his son. That commission led to a lifelong friendship with the Seward family.

In 1861, John wrote to Seward, then Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln. (And, then, his uncle through marriage of his niece, Mary Wayland.) He said he was, “sick at heart in the thought that our country must long suffer the horrors of this civil war.” (Lang) John sent a sketch as well showing an idea for “Impromptu Floating Batteries” to protect the country’s rivers.

John advocated heavily for higher education for deaf individuals. One of his famous paintings was a portrait of his favorite teacher, Laurent Clerc. In 1864, he gave a speech in sign language at the new Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind (later Gallaudet College and now Gallaudet University). A college specifically devoted to higher education for deaf individuals, its inaugural charter was signed by President Abraham Lincoln.

Not much is written about John’s younger brother, Andrew. Also deaf from infancy, he signed his paintings as “AB Carlin, a Mute.” He painted two portraits of young children, “Thomas Wister Grooket, Aged 3 Years” and “Portrait of a Young Boy and His Puppy on a Red Ribbon Leash.”

When the Civil War broke out, Andrew wanted to join the Union Army. At that time, total deafness was an exclusion for military service. However, people with hearing loss determined to fight for their country could sometimes find a recruiter willing to accept soldiers who could fake a level of hearing when questioned. Andrew wasn’t able to pull this off, but he still followed William T. Sherman’s army closely. His most known painting became “Sherman’s March Through Georgia, 1864.”

References:
Lang, H. (2017). Fighting in the Shadows: Untold Stories of Deaf People in the Civil War. Gallaudet University Press.
American Art Gallery, LLC. (2012). Biography: John Carlin. 
U.S Department of State. Art in Embassies: John Carlin. 
Miller, A.T. American Antiques: Andrew B. Carlin.