Martha Codman Karolik

Martha Catherine Codman Karolik (July 24, 1858 – April 21, 1948) was a philanthropist and American art collector based in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1939 and 1947 she and her husband Maxim Karolik donated two major collections of early American furniture, paintings, and prints and drawings to the Boston Fine Arts Museum, which built a new wing to house it.

Martha Catherine Codman was born on July 24, 1858, in a family whose wealth was built largely from the Russian and China clipper trade.

[2] In 1995 the Codman-Davis House was serving as the official residence of the Ambassador of Thailand, and it is one of the few intact homes designed by Ogden Codman Jr.

He also designed the Codman Carriage House and Stable, which later served variously as a store, nightclub, and office space.

[4][5] In 1910 Codman commissioned her cousin again, to design what was known as "Berkeley Villa" (now Bellevue House), a Colonial Revival mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, where she spent most summers.

[7] On February 2, 1928, Martha Codman married Maxim Karolik (1893-1963), a Russian opera singer by profession, scandalizing Boston society.