Marsden+Hartley



** January 4, 1877 – September 2, 1943 ** ** American Painter and Writer **


 * Marsden Hartley continuously evolved throughout his career. Although trained in the Post-Impressionist style, his approach often shifted which resulted in the creation of his personal symbolic language. He remained committed to the motifs of allegorical landscape, the homosexual, and Native American cultures.
 * Hartley received an early education from a local artist in Cleveland, Ohio. Later he attended the Chase School and the National Academy of Design. He regularly summered in Maine, a place for which he held an undying passion. Eventually he moved to Boston where he began focusing on a Post-Impressionist approach.
 * Hartley moved to New York City, where his first one-man exhibition was held in the leading 291 Gallery run by Alfred Stieglitz. Hartley’s association with Stieglitz introduced him to American and European avant-garde techniques and artists. His relationship with Stieglitz prompted him to move to Paris.
 * While in Paris, Hartley became friends with Gertrude Stein who introduced him to the works of Picasso and Matisse. This encouraged Hartley to work in the various techniques that Picasso and Matisse employed. He later became partial to the approach of German avant-garde artists such as Wassily Kandinsky.
 * Although he spent much of his career in Europe, experimenting with different motifs, WWI forced him to return to America where his style became more realistic. He began exploring new motifs in America and he focused much of his attention on Native American culture, Western, and Southern landscapes.
 * His late career was spent in Maine, where he depicted the landscapes and seascapes in various styles. Although he continued to travel, his last days were spent in the place he felt most attached- Maine.

Oxford Art Online: Hartley, Marsden: [|http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T036784?q=Marsden+Hartley&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit]

Oxford Art Online: Hartley, Marsden: [|http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t118/e1162?q=Marsden+Hartley&search=quick&pos=2&_start=1#firsthit]

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