Marsden Hartley is recognized for his significant contributions to American Modernism in the 20th century and was a pivotal figure in Alfred Stieglitz’s circle of artists who influenced and defined the movement.
Our March Spotlight presents a selection of Hartley’s work spanning genres and media, including an abstract work, a landscape in pastel, and two oil paintings from his series of works depicting gloves, one of which comes from a prestigious institutional collection.
These paintings of gloves exemplify Hartley’s “object portraits,” conveying human presence indirectly through personal effects, a technique the artist also employed in earlier works, such as his renowned “German Officer” series. Hartley’s pared-down approach—isolating humble forms and presenting them without embellishment—aligns with his broader interest in treating modest subjects as self-contained and universal.
