Charles Wisner Barrell (6 July 1885 – 20 June 1974) was an American writer. He first became significant as an art critic, promoting realism. He later built a career as an early exponent of public relations and as a documentary film maker. In his later life he became a prominent supporter of the

Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship The Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship contends that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Shakespeare authorship question, wrote the plays and poems of William Shakespeare. While historians and literary scholars overwhelmingly reject L ...

, making significant contributions to the theory. His claims for the

Ashbourne portrait The Ashbourne portrait is one of several portraits that have been falsely identified as portrayals of William Shakespeare. At least 60 such works had been offered for sale to the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery in the ...

were particularly influential.

Career

Born in

Warwick, New York Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets ( Amity, Bellvale, E ...

, Barrell was the son of Charles Wisner Barrell senior and his wife Mary. Barrell established himself as a miscellaneous writer in the early 20th century, publishing verse, essays and criticism. He wrote widely on contemporary art and was a strong supporter of the

Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. T ...

, whose 1908 exhibition at the Macbeth gallery he defended against conservative critics who, in his words, considered them to be a "revolutionary black school" promoting anarchy in art. He was impressed by the "real drama of the slums" portrayed by Ashcan artist

John French Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best know ...

in his etchings. He later worked in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

for various businesses. He was a consultant on art and photography for the

Western Electric Company Western Electric Co., Inc. was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that operated from 1869 to 1996. A subsidiary of the AT&T Corporation for most of its lifespan, Western Electric was the primary manufacturer, supplier, ...

and

Bell Telephone Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

. He also produced and directed documentary films for Western Electric. He married Mary Sabsovich.

Advocate of Oxfordian theory

He became an ardent advocate of J. Thomas Looney's theory that the works of Shakespeare were written by

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604), was an English peerage, peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after ...

. He wrote many essays in support of this view. In 1934 he came to England looking for archival evidence to link de Vere to the works of Shakespeare. He hoped to identify the illegitimate son of Oxford and Anne Vavasour, who he believed to be the

Fair Youth William Shakespeare (1565 –1616) wrote sonnets on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. Howe ...

of the sonnets. He successfully identified Edward Vere, the couple's son, publishing his findings in 1941. When the Second World War curtailed his activities in England, Barrell helped to establish an American branch of the Shakespeare Fellowship and publish a newsletter.

Theories

Barrell claimed to find hidden references to Oxford's secret authorship in the writings of Thomas Edwards, whose poem ''Narcissus'' (1595) uses allegorical nicknames in praising several Elizabethan poets, among them "Adon" and an anonymous poet dressed "in purple robes", "whose power floweth far." Barrell argued that the stanzas about Adon and the anonymous aristocrat must be seen together. He stated that Edwards is revealing that Adon, a reference to Shakespeare's ''Venus and Adonis'', is really the Earl of Oxford, forced by the Queen to use a pseudonym. Barrell also originated an argument that the phrase "Swan of Avon" in

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

's 1623 poem praising Shakespeare could refer to Oxford, as he owned Bilton Hall, a house near the Avon. Irvin Matus later demonstrated that Oxford had sold the house 42 years earlier.

Ashbourne portrait

He is best known for his studies of The Ashbourne portrait, which had been believed to depict Shakespeare. He examined the portrait using

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

and infra-red photography in hopes of finding hidden clues to its origin, publishing his results in ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

'' in 1940. He stated that he had found evidence that it was a portrait of Oxford and that the initials C.K. were visible beneath the surface. He took the view that these were the initials of Cornelius Ketel, an artist known to have painted a portrait of the Earl of Oxford. Later studies contradicted Barrell's evidence, identifying the portrait's sitter as Hugh Hamersley. Barrell also claimed that the Janssen portrait depicted the earl. More recent studies identify it as a portrayal of Thomas Overbury.Folger Shakespeare Library

References

External links

From ''The Shakespeare Fellowship News-Letter'' (American) 1940 - 1943 and ''The Shakespeare Fellowship Quarterly'' (American) 1944 - 1948.
Notice of Charles Wisner Barrell's death (pg. 44)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrell, Charles Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship 1885 births 1974 deaths American people of Swiss descent Shakespeare authorship theorists