He left Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution and moved to the United States to continue study of music.
In 1939 and 1947 they made valuable donations of their collections to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where a new wing was built and named for them.
[4][2] Over the following decades, Karolik and his wife Martha became noted collectors of eighteenth and nineteenth century American antiques, furnishings, and art.
The Karoliks donated some 300 pieces of their collection to the museum in 1939, during the late years of the Great Depression.
[1] Also among their purchases was the notable American textile, the Pictorial Quilt 1898 created by Harriet Powers (MFA accession no.
The other quilt is held and displayed by the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
It had an introductory essay by Nicholas Slonimsky titled "Russian Music in Art Songs.
"[5] In 1963 Karolik traveled from Newport to New York for a meeting to arrange lectures and other events related to his art philanthropy.