Marsden Hartley

Marsden Hartley (1877–1943) was proud to call himself an American artist, but he dreamed of travel to Europe, believing instinctively that he would learn more there than would be possible in his home state of Maine or even in New York. 

In 1909 Alfred Stieglitz gave Hartley his first solo exhibition in New York, and a second successful show three years later enabled him to head to Europe, where he spent time in Paris, Berlin and Munich. His rise to prominence as a specifically American modernist was based largely on the visual ideas and influences that he encountered in these vibrant cities, which he then synthesized through his own New England point of view. Hartley, who was by nature something of a loner, never lost his wanderlust, and throughout his life found inspiration in many other landscapes and cultures, including in southern France, Italy, Bermuda, Mexico and Canada.

Marsden Hartley: Adventurer in the Arts, published to coincide with an exhibition opening at the Vilcek Foundation in New York, offers a fresh appraisal of a pioneering modernist whose work continues to be celebrated for its spirituality, experimentation and innovation. Rick Kinsel’s introduction provides an overview of the manifold ways in which Hartley’s travels shaped his artistic vision, from experiencing the latest art in Paris and finding a mentor there in Gertrude Stein to meeting members of the Blaue Reiter group in Germany and developing an interest in both Prussian military pageantry and Bavarian folk art; from becoming fascinated with ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures while in Mexico to being inspired by the traditional pueblo life of the Native Americans of the Southwest.

William Low surveys items from the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection of Bates College Museum in Maine – including memorabilia from the artist’s travels and artefacts reflecting his diverse spiritual interests – and explains how they aid our understanding of Hartley’s motivation and passions. Among them are a photograph album tracing the course of Hartley’s peripatetic life from 1908 to 1930 and a notebook of ‘Color Exercises’, both of which are reproduced in full. Emily Schuchardt Navratil considers how Hartley’s desire for escape was reflected in his love of the circus, a recurrent theme in his paintings, drawings and writings. He was enthralled by the spectacle and the nomadic existence, and he imagined circus performers to be members of his own wandering troupe. For fifteen years he worked on a book devoted to the subject, but it was left unfinished at his death; an 18-page typescript version is reproduced here in its entirety.

Kinsel then explores Hartley’s painting Canoe (Schiff), created in Berlin in 1915 as part of his Amerika series of brightly coloured works defined by imagery drawn from both Native American material culture and German folk art. For Hartley, these paintings represented a dual cultural identity. The main part of the book, by Navratil, features some 100 paintings, drawings, photographs and postcards, arranged into seven country- or state-themed sections, with a concluding section on Hartley’s personal possessions, which – because he had no permanent home of his own – held extraordinary significance for him.

Rick Kinsel is President of the Vilcek Foundation, where he oversees the curation, stewardship and exhibition of the foundation’s art collections. These collections include significant and comprehensive holdings in American modernism, Native American pottery, pre-Columbian objects, and more. He previously served as the Cataloguer in charge of acquisitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and as Director of Cultural Affairs at Coty, Inc. He has advised on collections and curated exhibitions for both private and public organizations, among them the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Pen + Brush, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University and a master’s degree in the history of decorative arts from Bard Graduate Center, New York. In addition to his work in the visual arts, he has produced films and plays, edited a cookbook and judged design contests. He contributed to Ralston Crawford: Torn Signs, published by Merrell in 2019.

William Low has served as Curator at the Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston, Maine, since 2009. He has produced a range of exhibitions, from contemporary Chinese work in Xu Bing: Calligraphy for the People to American art in Andrew and Jamie Wyeth: Selections from the Private Collection of Victoria Browning Wyeth, and has contributed essays to a number of publications. He has also been instrumental in developing and providing stewardship for the museum’s collection. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s degree from the Center for Museum Studies at John F. Kennedy University, California. Active in the community, he serves on the boards of a number of arts and cultural organizations.

Emily Schuchardt Navratil is Curator at the Vilcek Foundation. She has worked with the Vilcek Collection since 2009, previously serving as Associate Curator, Assistant Curator and Curatorial Assistant. She earned a PhD in art history from the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), and a master’s degree from Hunter College, CUNY. Her interests are expansive, ranging from Native American art and its impact on interior design and women’s fashion between the world wars, to Piet Mondrian and Willem de Kooning. For the Vilcek Foundation, she has curated the exhibitions With Color (2013, to coincide with the publication by Merrell of Masterpieces of American Modernism from the Vilcek Collection) and Ralston Crawford: Torn Signs (2019; catalogue published by Merrell). She has worked in major institutions, notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey, and has contributed to numerous exhibitions and catalogues, including Cézanne and American Modernism (2009), Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2010) and American Vanguards: Graham, Davis, Gorky, De Kooning, and Their Circle, 1927–1942 (2012).

Dan Mills is Director of the Museum of Art and Lecturer in the Humanities at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He is known for leading an adventuresome curatorial programme that brings a world of ideas to his institution, and integrating it into the academic, cultural and social life of campus and the surrounding communities. His curatorial projects have travelled to more than three dozen museums and academic institutions throughout the United States. He is a frequent lecturer, panellist and catalogue contributor. He received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and a master of fine arts degree from Northern Illinois University, and maintains an active studio practice.