Marsden Hartley American, 1877-1943
29.8 x 45.1 cm
This work is included in Gail R. Scott’s Marsden Hartley Legacy Project: Complete Paintings and Works on Paper with Bates College Museum of Art.
Marsden Hartley's Ladies' Gloves No. 2 is an evocative painting believed to be a tribute to Isabel Lachaise and captures the artist's profound sense of affection and loss. The painting's sentimental mood is conveyed through the depiction of a pair of gloves and a purse set against a rich black background, invoking a memory of the woman through objects intimately associated with her. As suggested by Hartley scholar Gail Scott, the work may reflect Hartley's gratitude to Isabel, who provided him solace in Georgetown, Maine, during the summer of 1937—just two years after the death of her husband (fellow artist and friend of Hartley, Gaston Lachaise), and following the tragic drowning of the Mason boys in Nova Scotia, with whom Hartley had developed a close bond. [1]
Hartley's use of such "object portraits" is a signature element in his oeuvre, with this work belonging to his "Glove Series." This series, which includes another closely related work Ladies' Gloves No. 1 (1937–38), portrays individuals indirectly through objects, a technique Hartley had employed in earlier works, such as his renowned "German Officer" series from 1914 to 1915. Here, the elegant, feminine gloves act as a stand-in for the woman herself, embodying Hartley's fascination with conveying identity and presence through absence.
Provenance
The artist; toThe estate of the artist; to
[Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York, circa 1944]; to
[Babcock Galleries, New York, 1958];
Mrs. Loring Smith, New York, 1958]; to
[Sale: Sotheby's, New York, December 1, 1988, lot 239]; to
[Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York, 1988]; to
Tommy LiPuma, New York, 1988;
Private collection, Boston, Massachusetts; to
The estate of the above, 2025
Exhibitions
Hudson D. Walker Gallery, New York, Marsden Hartley: Recent Paintings of Maine, February 28–April 2, 1938, no. 11, as Lady's Gloves
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York, A Selection of 20th-Century American Paintings, 2000, no. 7, illus. in color, as Ladies Gloves
Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, Marsden Hartley: Observation and Intuition, February 1–March 31, 2001, p. 6, illus. in color, p. 17, as Ladies Gloves
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, High Notes of American Modernism: Selections from the Tommy and Gill LiPuma Collection, November 14-December 31, 2002, p. 125, pl. 45, illus. in color
Berry Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, The Heart of the Matter: The Still Lifes of Marsden Hartley, May 6–June 27, 2003The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, Modern American Masters: Highlights from the Gill and Tommy LiPuma Collection, March 28-July 18, 2004
Literature
G. Alan Chidsey, Trustee for the Hartley Estate. Volume of Photographs of Paintings, Pastels, Drawings and Lithographs by Marsden Hartley Washington, D.C 1944–1960. Archives of American Art, G. Alan Chidsey Papers, Inv. #77, as Ladies' Gloves #2Elizabeth McCausland, Elizabeth McCausland Papers, 1838-1995, bulk 1920-1960 Series 6: Marsden Hartley, 1900-1964 (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.), 15.36.10–11 factsheets, as Ladies Gloves
Kenneth Baker, "Marsden Hartley: Hackett-Freedman". Art News, New York, 100:4, April 2001, p. 150, as Ladies Gloves
Peter Selz, "Marsden Hartley: An American Original" in Marsden Hartley: Observation and Intuition, San Francisco: Hackett-Freedman Modern, 2001, pp. 3-8, as Ladies Gloves
William C. Agee, High Notes of American Modernism: Selections from the Tommy and Gill LiPuma Collection, New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 2002, pp. 36, 38, as Lady's Gloves #2, Collection of Mrs. Penna Drew. (2002 Berry-Hill Galleries) as Ladies' Gloves #2.
Bruce Weber, The Heart of the Matter: The Still Lifes of Marsden Hartley. New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 2003, frontispiece illus. in color (detail), pp. 36, 38, 60, illus. in color, pl. 14
