Marsden Hartley

SURFACE: surface appears weathered throughout; light surface soiling, scattered watermarks and staining
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Sotheby’s is delighted to offer the following two lots from the estate of the well-known sculptor and friend of Marsden Hartley, Robert Laurent.  The French-born Laurent, and the wealthy painter and collector, Hamilton Easter Field, opened the Ogunquit School of Painting and Sculpture in 1911.  Along with Hartley, several notable contemporary artists of their circle passed through the colony and became associated with it, among them, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Niles Spencer, William and Marguerite Zorach and gallery owner, Edith Halpert.

Hartley spent the summer of 1917 at the Ogunquit School.  He had been re-acclimating to life in the U.S. after his return in late 1915 from three transformative years in Europe which culminated in his highly innovative and powerful “Berlin Paintings”, intensely colorful images of German military symbols and decorations.  With World War I overwhelming Europe, the reviews for this remarkable series had been very disappointing and Hartley sought to find artistic acceptance and feel at ease again in his own country.  Over the course of 1916, he spent time in Provincetown and Bermuda.  Under the influence of his surroundings, his palette began to lighten and he turned to the local landscape and still lifes as his subjects.  Gail Scott writes of his paintings in this period, “A far cry from the passionate intensity that fired the Berlin paintings, they exemplify the abrupt stylistic shift necessitated by his return to an America that did not accept or understand his work.  But with the resilience born of Yankee ingenuity, Hartley was able to start afresh, as if his vision had been washed clean by saltwater and stinging air.” (Gail Scott, Marsden Hartley, New York, 1988, p. 64).   

 In Ogunquit, Laurent and Field offered further inspiration to Hartley through their extensive collection of American folk art.  He found the naive still life a particularly engaging subject and began to experiment with it, sometimes using unusual media that were typical of the genre, painting on glass or foil, for example.  “Still Life Study”  (lot 9) relates to an oil on glass painting from 1917, entitled Painting No. 69, in the Alfred Stieglitz Collection, The Carl Van Vechten Gallery of Fine Arts, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee. (Barbara Haskell, Marsden Hartley, New York, 1980, plate 30, p. 67, illustrated).  In “Still Life with White Bowl” (lot 10), Hartley’s bowl of fruit floats on the surface with no sense of depth or perspective.  Its rudimentary geometric forms with vivid, linear planes of contrasting colors behind it, frame it and fix it in place, while its cursory blue decoration softens the image and gives it interest.