Marsden Hartley: American Modern

January 15 – May 1, 2005

Marsden Hartley, a key member of America’s first artistic avant-garde, was a leading figure in the circle of artists and writers surrounding Alfred Stieglitz in the early decades of the 20th century in New York. Born in 1877, Hartley entered a world where the horse was the principle mode of transportation and died in 1943 just as commercial air travel became available. His work, which valued innovation over tradition and originality over imitation, mirrors this technological and conceptual shift. This retrospective exhibition of 56 works is drawn entirely from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota.