MARSDEN HARTLEY (1877/1943), AMERICAN PAINTER

Modern ideas and a personal vision of art

MARSDEN HARTLEY 1/3 – He was a pioneer of American modernism, whose knowledge of French avant-garde styles and close collaboration with innovative German painters led him to invent one of the most innovative painting styles of the early twentieth century. In addition to being a painter, he is also remembered as a poet, essayist and writer. He was born to Lewiston and his mother died when he was still a child. His father remarried and moved to another town, altering the psychological balance of his son, who sought comfort in nature.

MARSDEN HARTLEY 2/3 – After studying art in Cleveland, he moved to New York where he studied painting. His works hit the attention of a gallerist, who organized several personal exhibitions. Gradually, he entered a culturally avant-garde environment, knowing painters, writers and poets. In those years he painted dark landscapes and admired the primitive romance, approaching almost transcendental naturalism. In 1912 he went to Europe to complete his artistic training. He made a series of brilliant abstract paintings, after learning the styles of Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso. To admire his “Autumn Color” (made around 1910), you can go to New York https://www.metmuseum.org/ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

MARSDEN HARTLEY 3/3 – In Munich he met Kandinsky, Klee and Franz Marc’s Expressionism. He traveled between Europe, United States and Mexico, then returned to Maine. Those journeys, and the contact with modern artistic movements, led to his approach to Expressionism. Returning to the United States, he made a series of unconventional landscapes and portraits. His landscapes of Mount Katahdin made him one of the greatest modernist American painters. His beautiful painting of The 1908 (The Ice Hole), is up to you at the New Orleans Museum of Art https://noma.org/

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The intellectual property of the images that appear in this blog correspond to their authors. The sole purpose of this site, is to spread the knowledge of these artists and that other people enjoy their works. To pursue this issue, you can digit: https://www.colby.edu/magazine/the-painter-from-maine-marsden-hartley/