Marsden Hartley (American, 1877–1943)
The Last of New England—The Beginning of New Mexico
INV-6592
Marsden Hartley (American, 1877–1943)1918–19
The Last of New England—The Beginning of New Mexico
Marsden Hartley (American, 1877–1943) →Modernismoil on panelpainting
Date
1918–19
Medium
Oil on paperboard
Dimensions
61.6 × 76.1 cm (24 1/4 × 29 15/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection
In this painting, Marsden Hartley depicted an imagined scene in which the fallen trees of a New England forest in the foreground transition to the golden hills of New Mexico beyond. Weary of the East Coast, the artist spent 18 months in the Southwest in 1918–19, believing that he could find rejuvenation in nature. Here, thick black lines define the Southwestern landscape, which he saw as alive with expressive potential. He wrote to Alfred Stieglitz, “I like the country very well, for it is big and clean and true, and there is nothing dirty standing between one and the sunlight, as there is in the east.” Like many artists who lived in New England at this time, he pictured the Southwest as uninhabited and unspoiled, overlooking the centuries of civilizations in the region.
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