Evening star., 1943-11-07
BY Leila MechHn.

One Of the four notable eXhibi
tlons which, concurrently, inaugu-
Phillips Memorial Gallery, is of
paintings by Marsden Hartley, who,
II will be remembered, died early in
September at Ellsworth, Me.
Seventeen years ago, Mr.. Phillips,
writing of Mr.. Hartley, said that he
was an artist Of complex personality
"A man Of taste with fair for
caprlciouS composition and curious
technical procedure, which was very
true then and to his life's end But
meanwhile. after extensive and
seemingly fruitleSS experimentation.
these characteristics we're dominated,
and to an extent lost, in those of a
simpler. bolder nature, for which
reason Nj. Phillips. in his catalogue
note, now places him among those
of today who have helped to main
tain the great tradition of Ameri-
can art"
That others are of the same opin-
ion is evidenced by the fact that in
recent years no less than 20 Of our
leading museums have acquired
paintings by Hartley. Two Of these
museum purchases are included in
the present exhibition: three are
from private collections and five
have been drawn from the collection
owned by the Phillips Memorial
Gallery. Furthermore an honorable
mention has Just been voted to one
of his paintings, included, postum
mously, in the Chicago Art Insti-
tute's annual exhibition now in
progress.
Nofive Of Maine.
Hartley was born in Lewiston, Me,
In 1877. In the art of painting he
WAS we'll schooled. studying under
Dumond. MOX, Mora and Francis c.
Jones, national academicians and
rainters of note. In his early pro-
fessional years he spent some time
abroad, living long enough in Paris,
Berlin, Munich and elsewhere, to
fully acquaint himself with current
activity in local studios and artist
groups. As his works evidence, he
was fascinated by those Of CeZanne
and greatly Influenced by them. In
later life he put this tendency to-
ward imitation aside and gave him.
self completely to the faithful rem
~, l,;- to -n
In which he found great allure.
Like many Of the painters of to-
day. Hartley seems to have cared,
even at the last, little for technique
and made almost no effect to paint
beautifully. This is perhaps his
greatest fault. but it is one which
creates a barrier between him and
the public Apparently he had no
sense of texture, and in most Of his
pictures pigment makes itself too
strongly felt The greatest art has
always. until now, been that which
concealed all effort. Indeed great
part of the Joy to be found in a
masterpiece of painting is the way
1t is done.
Here is the difference between
Hartley and WinSloW Homer, also
of Maine and painter Of its rugged
coast and forest inland. Hartley
gains impressiveness by distortion
Homer directly through simple truth.
Outstanding Examples.
Consider momentarily two out
standing examples of Hartley's work
in the current eXhibition-"The
Lighthouse and 'FiShermans Last
Supper-NCva Scotia" In the for
mer the sense conveyed of storm
is tremendous, the sea is seen to fling
itself against the land with terrific
force. which should be sufficient in
itself to arrest attention and crea'e
awe, but to increase this effect the
painter has represented the light
house. which dominates the COM
position as slant. a modern leaning
tower of PiSa-not as actual but
rather symbolic. Thus do little chill
dren picture things which they can
not otherwise express
The latter shows the interior Of
a f1sherman's cottage in which the
adult family is seated on the far
side Of long table. On the side
nearest the observer the chairs are