Marsden Hartley

American, 1877 - 1943

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Amethyst-purple mountains and clouds against a slightly lighter, lavender-purple sky loom over a strip of land painted as bands of brick red and royal blue in this abstracted, horizontal landscape painting. One tall peak with a flattened top rises in front of a few more lower, rounded peaks to our right. Round clouds, like cotton balls, in the same amethyst-purple of the mountains, float against the lighter purple sky. The sky, clouds, and mountains are painted with areas of mottled purple over a red underlayer, all outlined in lapis blue. The horizon line created by the strip of deep red land comes about halfway up the composition. There is a pair of green trees with triangular canopies at the water’s edge near the center of the red band. A few touches of forest-green nearby suggest more trees or bushes. The red band is streaked vertically with visible brushstrokes in flame, ruby, and burgundy red. Along the bottom edge of the painting, the land curves toward us near the lower left corner, around a field painted with horizontal streaks of cobalt and navy blue with a few thin, white lines to suggest ripples. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner: “M.H. 42.”
Marsden Hartley, Mount Katahdin, Maine, 1942, oil on hardboard, Gift of Mrs. Mellon Byers, 1970.27.1

Mount Katahdin, Maine

Marsden Hartley · 1942 · oil on hardboard ·  Accession ID  1970.27.1

Marsden Hartley, Vinalhaven, Maine, 1937-1938, black crayon and white chalk on cardboard, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Membership Association Fund), 2015.19.726

Vinalhaven, Maine

Marsden Hartley · 1937-1938 · black crayon and white chalk on cardboard ·  Accession ID  2015.19.726

Marsden Hartley, Kopelberg-Oberammergau, 1934, lithograph in black, Gift of Louis J. Hector, 1983.113.2

Kopelberg-Oberammergau

Marsden Hartley · 1934 · lithograph in black ·  Accession ID  1983.113.2

Marsden Hartley, Kopelberg-Oberammergau, 1934, lithograph in black, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.2370

Kopelberg-Oberammergau

Marsden Hartley · 1934 · lithograph in black ·  Accession ID  2008.115.2370

Marsden Hartley, Waxenstein, 1933, lithograph in black on wove paper, Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen, 2002.157.20

Waxenstein

Marsden Hartley · 1933 · lithograph in black on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2002.157.20

Marsden Hartley, Plums and Pears, 1927, graphite on wove paper, Gift of Warren and Grace Brandt, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.35.2

Plums and Pears

Marsden Hartley · 1927 · graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1991.35.2

Marsden Hartley, Bowl of Fruit, 1923, lithograph in black, Rosenwald Collection, 1963.11.116

Bowl of Fruit

Marsden Hartley · 1923 · lithograph in black ·  Accession ID  1963.11.116

Marsden Hartley, Flowers in Goblet #2, 1923, lithograph in black on wove paper, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.2369

Flowers in Goblet #2

Marsden Hartley · 1923 · lithograph in black on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2008.115.2369

Marsden Hartley, Fruit Basket, 1923, lithograph in black on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Mary E. Maxwell Fund), 2015.19.1021

Fruit Basket

Marsden Hartley · 1923 · lithograph in black on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.1021

Marsden Hartley, Flowers in Goblet #2, 1923, lithograph in black on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Mary E. Maxwell Fund), 2015.19.886

Flowers in Goblet #2

Marsden Hartley · 1923 · lithograph in black on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.886

Bibliography

1980

  • Haskell, Barbara. Marsden Hartley. Exh. cat. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth; University Art Museum, University of California, Berkley. New York, 1980.

1988

  • Scott, Gail R. Marsden Hartley. New York, 1988.

1992

  • Ludington, Townsend. Marsden Hartley: The Biography of an American Artist. 1st ed. Boston, 1992.

1995

  • Robertson, Bruce. Marsden Hartley. New York, 1995.

1997

  • Hartley, Marsden. Somehow a Past: The Autobiography of Marsden Hartley. Edited and with an introduction by Susan Elizabeth Ryan. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1997.

2002

  • Hartley, Marsden. My Dear Stieglitz: Letters of Marsden Hartley and Alfred Stieglitz, 1912-1915. Columbia, South Carolina, 2002.

2005

  • Cassidy, Donna. Marsden Hartley: Race, Region, and Nation. Durham and Hanover, 2005.

2014

  • Scholz, Dieter, ed. Marsden Hartley: The German Paintings 1913-1915 Exh. cat. Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Berlin, Los Angeles, and New York, 2014.