Like his paintings, Hartley's poetry is rough-edged and spiky. This toughness is not, however, due to lack of skill in either poetry or painting. Rather, it would seem that the rough-hewn quality of both poetry and painted image results from his desire to make an art with all the immediacy and varied texture of life itself.
-Gail R. Scott, Collected Poems of Marsden Hartley, p. 23
-Gail R. Scott, Collected Poems of Marsden Hartley, p. 23
BIOGRAPHY
Born Edmund Hartley in Maine, New England, he won a scholarship to study in New York where he would base himself for much of his life. He began painting in a post-Impressionist manner, with dark, brooding landscapes, such as Storm Clouds, Maine (1906–7). In 1909 he met Alfred Stieglitz in New York, who introduced him to more contemporary work, and Hartley began to paint still lifes influenced by Picasso and Cezanne; this subject would continue to preoccupy him throughout his career. In Paris he discovered Kandinsky, to whose spiritualism he was receptive, and in 1912 he began to paint ‘intuitive abstractions’. In Germany 1913–15 he developed a more symbolic language: Portrait of a German Officer (1914) is his most famous work, a still life of military regalia subtly eroticized and allegorical, as a tribute to a fallen comrade. This piece has become iconic as an example of the coded language of homosexuality employed in the fine arts. Near the end of his career, Hartley devoted himself to becoming the 'painter of Maine', especially its highest peak, Mount Katahdin, which he imbued with a stark, spiritual grandeur.
Born Edmund Hartley in Maine, New England, he won a scholarship to study in New York where he would base himself for much of his life. He began painting in a post-Impressionist manner, with dark, brooding landscapes, such as Storm Clouds, Maine (1906–7). In 1909 he met Alfred Stieglitz in New York, who introduced him to more contemporary work, and Hartley began to paint still lifes influenced by Picasso and Cezanne; this subject would continue to preoccupy him throughout his career. In Paris he discovered Kandinsky, to whose spiritualism he was receptive, and in 1912 he began to paint ‘intuitive abstractions’. In Germany 1913–15 he developed a more symbolic language: Portrait of a German Officer (1914) is his most famous work, a still life of military regalia subtly eroticized and allegorical, as a tribute to a fallen comrade. This piece has become iconic as an example of the coded language of homosexuality employed in the fine arts. Near the end of his career, Hartley devoted himself to becoming the 'painter of Maine', especially its highest peak, Mount Katahdin, which he imbued with a stark, spiritual grandeur.
RESOURCES
1. Portrait of a German Officer
2. Fisherman's Last Supper
3. Robin Hood Cove, Georgetown, Maine
4. Pictures of Birds
5. Richard Rolle
1. Portrait of a German Officer
2. Fisherman's Last Supper
3. Robin Hood Cove, Georgetown, Maine
4. Pictures of Birds
5. Richard Rolle
6. Works of art by Marsden Hartley in the Crystal Bridges Museum main collection:
New Mexico Landscape ; Hall of the Mountain King ; Painting No. 3 ; Painting No. 69 ; Vase of Flowers ; Painting No. 8 ; Red Flowers and Sailboat ; Still Life No. 1 ; Beau Blanc, St. Jeannet ; Landscape No. 19 ; Madawaska—Acadian Light-Heavy ; Standing Nude Figure (Back View) ; Storm down Pine Point Way, Old Orchard Beach ; Maine Landscape, Autumn No. 13 (front); Untitled (back) ; Movement No. 6, Provincetown ; Movement No. 7, Provincetown ; Mountains No. 22 ; New Mexico No. 2 ; Vinalhaven
New Mexico Landscape ; Hall of the Mountain King ; Painting No. 3 ; Painting No. 69 ; Vase of Flowers ; Painting No. 8 ; Red Flowers and Sailboat ; Still Life No. 1 ; Beau Blanc, St. Jeannet ; Landscape No. 19 ; Madawaska—Acadian Light-Heavy ; Standing Nude Figure (Back View) ; Storm down Pine Point Way, Old Orchard Beach ; Maine Landscape, Autumn No. 13 (front); Untitled (back) ; Movement No. 6, Provincetown ; Movement No. 7, Provincetown ; Mountains No. 22 ; New Mexico No. 2 ; Vinalhaven
REFERENCES
Biography adapted from Falconer, Morgan. "Hartley, Marsden." The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web.<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t118/e1162>
Artwork behind title: Hartley's Painting No. 3 (detail) from Crystal Bridges Museum collection
Artwork behind title: Hartley's Painting No. 3 (detail) from Crystal Bridges Museum collection
