Mt. Katahdin—November Afternoon
Artist
Marsden Hartley
(American, 1877 - 1943)
Date1942
MediumOil on Masonite
DimensionsUnframed: 30 × 40 inches (76.2 × 101.6 cm)
Framed: 39 1/2 × 49 1/2 × 2 inches (100.33 × 125.73 × 5.08 cm)
Framed: 39 1/2 × 49 1/2 × 2 inches (100.33 × 125.73 × 5.08 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. James A. Reed in memory of Senator James A. Reed through the Friends of Art
Object number46-3
SignedSigned and dated lower right: M. H. / 42
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 219
Collections
DescriptionLandscape; purple mountains with central peak. Woods and lake in foreground.Gallery Label
After years of travel, Marsden Hartley proclaimed himself
“the Painter from Maine.” This painting of Mt. Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak,
belongs to a series focused on the mountain. Following a visit there in October
1939, Hartley painted multiple canvases over a three-year period. He modified
his palette to suggest different seasons in each painting. In Mt.
Katahdin—November Afternoon, the contrast between the blue sky, purple
mountains, and auburn woods evokes an early-winter day. Hartley identified with
the remote peak, seeing it as an emblem of his own lonely resilience.
Possibly Howard Devree, “Among the New Exhibitions,” New York
Times, 17 December 1944, X4; H[enry] C. H[askell], “Art and Artists: The Friends of Art Prepare to Buy Another Painting,” Kansas
City Star, 11 January 1946, 13; “Friends of Art,” Gallery News
(William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum
of Fine Arts) 12 (February 1946), 4 (as Mt. Katahdin); H[enry] C.
H[askell], “Kansas City Loses a Patron Who Believed in Modern
Art,” Kansas City Star, 1 February 1946, 16 (as Mount Katahdin,
November); “Friends in Deed,” Art Digest 20 (15 March 1946),
10 (as Mount Katahdin, November); “Modern Painters Are Aided
by the Friends of Art,” Kansas City Star, 13 April 1947, 9D (as
Mt. Katahdin); Winifred Shields, “A Special Collection of Works
Is Growing at Nelson Gallery,” Kansas City Star, 19 May 1950, 28
(as Mt. Katahdin); “Paintings by Marsden Hartley,” Gallery News
(William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum
of Fine Arts) 19 (June–September 1952), unpaginated; Winifred
Shields, “Art and Artists: A Jagged Path Led Marsden Hartley
Back to Starting Point,” Kansas City Star, 29 August 1952, 12;
Patrick J. Kelleher, “Aspects of Representation in Contemporary
Art—An Exhibition,” Bulletin (William Rockhill Nelson Gallery
of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts) 2 (March 1959), 14;
NAMA 1959, 256; Birmingham Museum of Art: Annual Report
and Exhibition—Color (Birmingham, Ala.: Birmingham Museum
of Art, 1962), 11; American Painting, 1910 to 1960: A Special
Exhibition Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Association of
College Unions, exh. cat. (Bloomington: Fine Arts Gallery, Indiana
University, 1964), unpaginated; Donald Hoffmann, “New Space
for Art,” Kansas City Star, 9 May 1971, 9G; NAMA 1973, 252;
David William Olds, “A Study of Marsden Hartley’s Mt. Katahdin
Series, 1939–1942,” M.A. thesis, University of Texas, Austin, 1978,
35; NAMA 1991, 166–67; Theresa Bembnister, “Party Hartley,
Marsden Hartley Could Teach the Young Friends a Thing or Two,”
Pitch (Kansas City, Mo.), 23 October 2003, 35.
Times, 17 December 1944, X4; H[enry] C. H[askell], “Art and Artists: The Friends of Art Prepare to Buy Another Painting,” Kansas
City Star, 11 January 1946, 13; “Friends of Art,” Gallery News
(William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum
of Fine Arts) 12 (February 1946), 4 (as Mt. Katahdin); H[enry] C.
H[askell], “Kansas City Loses a Patron Who Believed in Modern
Art,” Kansas City Star, 1 February 1946, 16 (as Mount Katahdin,
November); “Friends in Deed,” Art Digest 20 (15 March 1946),
10 (as Mount Katahdin, November); “Modern Painters Are Aided
by the Friends of Art,” Kansas City Star, 13 April 1947, 9D (as
Mt. Katahdin); Winifred Shields, “A Special Collection of Works
Is Growing at Nelson Gallery,” Kansas City Star, 19 May 1950, 28
(as Mt. Katahdin); “Paintings by Marsden Hartley,” Gallery News
(William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum
of Fine Arts) 19 (June–September 1952), unpaginated; Winifred
Shields, “Art and Artists: A Jagged Path Led Marsden Hartley
Back to Starting Point,” Kansas City Star, 29 August 1952, 12;
Patrick J. Kelleher, “Aspects of Representation in Contemporary
Art—An Exhibition,” Bulletin (William Rockhill Nelson Gallery
of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts) 2 (March 1959), 14;
NAMA 1959, 256; Birmingham Museum of Art: Annual Report
and Exhibition—Color (Birmingham, Ala.: Birmingham Museum
of Art, 1962), 11; American Painting, 1910 to 1960: A Special
Exhibition Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Association of
College Unions, exh. cat. (Bloomington: Fine Arts Gallery, Indiana
University, 1964), unpaginated; Donald Hoffmann, “New Space
for Art,” Kansas City Star, 9 May 1971, 9G; NAMA 1973, 252;
David William Olds, “A Study of Marsden Hartley’s Mt. Katahdin
Series, 1939–1942,” M.A. thesis, University of Texas, Austin, 1978,
35; NAMA 1991, 166–67; Theresa Bembnister, “Party Hartley,
Marsden Hartley Could Teach the Young Friends a Thing or Two,”
Pitch (Kansas City, Mo.), 23 October 2003, 35.
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