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Ernest Schelling 1876–1939
Ernest Schelling made his musical debut at the Philadelphia Academy of Music when he was four years old. At seven, the child prodigy traveled to Europe to study with a succession of important music theorists, composers, and conductors. From 1896 to 1899, he was the only pupil of the great Polish pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Schelling spent the next several years touring Europe and North and South America. In the midst of a taxing performance schedule in 1910, he sat for Sargent twice. During the sittings, the artist noted, Schelling was "in a condition of total collapse . . . [but] fortunately his looks held their own."
Schelling was a distinguished composer and conductor as well as a virtuoso performer. In 1924, he established the Young People's Concerts at the New York Philharmonic and served as conductor until his death in 1939. He also conducted the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1935 to 1937.
Charcoal on paper, 1910
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; gift of Mrs. János Scholz
This is the National Portrait Gallery sign in the exhibit. |