Trees

Accession Number
1970/2.6

Title
Trees

Artist(s)
Marsden Hartley

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
circa 1927

Medium & Support
graphite on paper

Dimensions
14 13/16 in x 12 in (37.62 cm x 30.48 cm);18 in x 22 in (45.72 cm x 55.88 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
Trees shows several trees growing on a hillside and appears to be from a sketch book as the left edge is perforated. Marsden Hartley travelled around the United States and Europe adapting to popular art styles of different times and places. In New York he attended the Art Students League and worked with Abstract Expressionists, then the Cubists in Paris, the Blue Rider group in Munich. This work resembles Cezanne's landscapes in the patches of dark that create shadows and texture. He is considered a pioneer of the Modern American school after a series of landscapes he did while living in New Mexico. In 1926 Hartley left the United States to return to France so it is possible that he completed this sketch while living there.

Physical Description
This drawing shows several bare tree trunks rooted in a hillside, which climbs up the left side of the piece. The tree in the center has 90 degree bend in its trunk. 

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Nature
abstraction
modern and contemporary art
sketches
trees

& Author Notes

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