MARSDEN HARTLEY

Painter, drawing specialist, lithographer, lecturer, teacher, and writer Marsden Hartley was born in Maine in 1877. He was an important early modernist with nature as a spiritual force at the core of his work. He studied at the Cleveland School of Art, the Chase School in New York City, and at the National Academy. His career was launched by Alfred Stieglitz who gave him his first solo show in New York in 1909. He lived in Munich, Berlin, and Paris between 1913 and 1915. The cultural climate of wartime Berlin had a tremendous impact on his work and he created bold, emotional Expressionist paintings. Upon his return to the States, he traveled to New Mexico where he painted expressive landscapes and a series of still-life oils. In 1921, a successful auction of his paintings by Anderson Galleries allowed him to return to Europe. He continued to travel, living and painting in one place for a brief period before moving on to another. Berlin, Provence, New Hampshire, Cape Cod, Mexico, Maine, Nova Scotia, and Bermuda were among his many places of residence. He remained in Maine after 1937. His late work consists primarily of abstracted landscapes, powerful in form and color, with the motif of mountains appearing frequently. He died in 1943.