Marsden Hartley was an American painter, essayist and poet, who represented American Modernism movement. He was known for his use of volumetric forms, rich colors and bold lines. Hartley's most original works depict Maine's rocky shoreline and the fishermen, who depend upon the sea for their livelihood.
Background
Marsden Hartley was born on January 4, 1877 in Lewiston, Maine, United States. He was the youngest of nine children, born to English immigrant parents Thomas Hartley and Eliza Jane Hartley. When Marsden was eight years old, his mother died, and some time later, his father married Martha Marsden. At that time, his family divided, and Hartley was forced to live with an older sister in Auburn, Maine. In 1892, he joined his family in Cleveland, Ohio.
Education
From 1892 to 1898, Marsden attended Cleveland School of Art (present-day Cleveland Institute of Art). His skills attracted the attention of a school trustee, who gave him a five-year stipend to study art in New York City.
In 1898, Hartley left for New York City and enrolled at New York School of Art (present-day Parsons School of Design) the same year. William Merritt Chase was his mentor. From 1900 to 1904, Marsden attended National Academy of Design. It was during this time, that Hartley also met the painter Albert Pinkham Ryder, who would have a profound influence on his painting.
In 1906, Marsden returned from New York City to Lewiston, Maine, to teach painting. At that time, he took his stepmother's maiden name as his own first name, becoming Marsden Hartley. During his time in Lewiston, Hartley produced what he considered his first mature paintings. Also, he met an art promoter, Alfred Stieglitz, who was impressed with his paintings and helped Marsden to hold his first solo exhibition at the famed 291 Gallery in 1909. Also, Stieglitz introduced Hartley to other artists, including Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove, John Marin and Paul Strand. Enjoying the company of other writers and artists, which he met in New York City, Hartley was often found sitting with them at Kriel's Bakery, where he was allowed to eat for free by the sympathetic owner.
In 1912, Hartley traveled to Paris, Munich and Berlin. Although, he experimented with Cubism, in Germany he discovered the style, which provided the expressive pictorial elements he would develop during the rest of his career. Marsden exhibited with the Blaue Reiter group in Munich and became friends with Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc and Paul Klee. A characteristic painting of this expressionist phase is "Portrait of a German Officer" (1914). Here, Hartley expresses military pomp by showing only the officer's epaulets, abstracted with heightened color in contrast with coarse, black contours. This emblematic approach was modified three years later, when he turned to Paul Cézanne's work for direction. The influence of Cézanne is evident in Hartley's work as late as 1928.
In 1915, Hartley returned to America. His most recent works, shown after his return, were not well received. The German-inspired themes made them a hard sell, given the anti-German sentiment of the time. Being disappointed, Hartley started to travel extensively, including a trip to Bermuda with Charles Demuth in 1917. He also visited New Mexico and California, where he began a series of works, focused on the landscape.
Upon his return to New York City in 1920, Marsden was appointed the first secretary of the Société Anonyme (art organization), which was founded by Katherine Dreier and Marcel Duchamp. At that time, Hartley also became friends with Man Ray and briefly immersed himself in the Dada art and literary culture. In 1921, he published his collection of essays on artists and vaudeville performances, entitled "Adventures in the Arts". The same year, in 1921, the painter left for Berlin, where he began a series of still lifes. Also, the landscapes of Italy and France, where he moved in 1925 and lived for three years, are reflected in his paintings. In 1932, he traveled to Mexico, where he was inspired not only by nature, but also the mysticism and spiritualism of the Mexican people.
Hartley's trip to Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia, was a major source of inspiration late in his career. The landscape, the family dynamic, as well as the tragic death of his family members by drowning on September 19, 1936 would appear as themes in many of the painter's later works and marked the beginning of an increased focus on portraiture and still lifes. In 1941, Marsden returned to his native State of Maine. His later work expresses a strong romantic attachment to his native land and that of the Southwest. Despite his poor health, he continued to paint till his death in 1943.
Quotations:
"It is never difficult to see images – when the principle of the image is embedded in the soul."
"All things that are living are expression and therefore part of the inherent symbology of life. Art, therefore, that is encumbered with excessive symbolism is extraneous, and from my point of view, useless art. Anyone who understands life needs no handbook of poetry or philosophy to tell him what it is."
"The virtue of Yankee upbringing spiritually speaking is of more downright value to me than any past heritages."
"I could never be French, I could never become German - I shall always remain American – the essence which is in me is American mysticism just as Davies declared it when he saw those first landscapes."
"A reaction, to be pleasant, must be simple."
"Poets must, it seems to me, learn how to use a great many words before they can know how to use a few skilfully. Journalistic verbiage is not fluency."
Interests
Bavarian folk art
Connections
During his stay in Berlin, Hartley fell in love with a German lieutenant, Karl von Freyburg, who was killed in battle on October 7, 1914.