MARSDEN HARTLEY (American 1877-1943) AFTERNOON HAZE 1907.

MARSDEN HARTLEY (American 1877-1943) AFTERNOON HAZE 1907. Oil on board coastal scene shows a colorful seascape with waves against rock cliffs under a bright sun through haze. Signed lower right “Marsden Hartley”. Housed in a carved silver gilt modern frame with wide linen matte. On reverse is a Bates College loan agreement, also a conservation treatment report and more. Note: Hartley established a studio in Lewiston, Maine, at the end of 1906. The following spring he produced a number of landscape paintings from the motif, most of which are now lost, with the exception of Shady Brook at the Lewiston Library and one that surfaced recently and was sold by Christies. Things did not go well for Hartley’s hopes to find students and by June he was destitute He wrote to publisher Thomas Mosler for a job and was invited to Green Acre near Eliot Maine on the bank of the Piscataquis River. His job as groundskeeper no doubt left him a good deal of time to paint the surrounding landscape. We must bear in mind that Hartley was basically unknown as an artist at this juncture. At the end of the summer he had his first exhibition at the home of Mrs. Ole Bull which was a success; he sold a fair number of paintings, which gave him enough money to live that winter in Boston. We have no way of knowing how many paintings he produced in 1907 as very few have survived. However, one can account for at least 70 paintings and over 40 drawings in 1908. There’s no reason to believe that he destroyed any of his 1907 paintings that he did not sell. What happened to that body of work may very likely remain a mystery, as over a century has passed since they were painted. One very fine painting survived and is in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Also there is a photograph in the Archives of American Art of a painting quite similar to the Baltimore picture which was owned in New York in the mid-1950s. All of this makes Autumn Haze an extremely rare work in Hartley’s oeuvre. SIZE: 10-3/4″ x 12″. PROVENANCE: Mr. Sidney Osborne N.Y. & St. Catherines, Ont. (Osborne was a scientist and collector. Carl Sprinchorn visited his summer home in Ontario several times). Then to: Gerald F. Vulker, Ancaster, Ont. – to his daughter Myline Vulker, Barre, Ont. 1998. To: Chris Huntington, Patten, Me. 1999. Exhibited at Bates College Art Museum Apr. 13 – June 30, 2001. Also at the Georgetown Historical Society Me. “Georgetown Goes Modern” June 25 – Sept. 10, 2011. Illustrated in color “Georgetown Goes Modern” 2012. CONDITION: Very good. 9-25613 (30,000-40,000)

Auction: Fine Art, Antiques & Asian - August 2012

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	1037	$28,750.00	MARSDEN HARTLEY (American 1877-1943) AFTERNOON HAZE 1907. Oil on board coastal scene shows a colorful seascape with waves against rock cliffs under a bright sun through haze. Signed lower right “Marsden Hartley”. Housed in a carved silver gilt modern frame with wide linen matte. On reverse is a Bates College loan agreement, also a conservation treatment report and more. Note: Hartley established a studio in Lewiston, Maine, at the end of 1906. The following spring he produced a number of landscape paintings from the motif, most of which are now lost, with the exception of Shady Brook at the Lewiston Library and one that surfaced recently and was sold by Christies. Things did not go well for Hartley’s hopes to find students and by June he was destitute He wrote to publisher Thomas Mosler for a job and was invited to Green Acre near Eliot Maine on the bank of the Piscataquis River. His job as groundskeeper no doubt left him a good deal of time to paint the surrounding landscape. We must bear in mind that Hartley was basically unknown as an artist at this juncture. At the end of the summer he had his first exhibition at the home of Mrs. Ole Bull which was a success; he sold a fair number of paintings, which gave him enough money to live that winter in Boston. We have no way of knowing how many paintings he produced in 1907 as very few have survived. However, one can account for at least 70 paintings and over 40 drawings in 1908. There’s no reason to believe that he destroyed any of his 1907 paintings that he did not sell. What happened to that body of work may very likely remain a mystery, as over a century has passed since they were painted. One very fine painting survived and is in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Also there is a photograph in the Archives of American Art of a painting quite similar to the Baltimore picture which was owned in New York in the mid-1950s. All of this makes Autumn Haze an extremely rare work in Hartley’s oeuvre. SIZE: 10-3/4″ x 12″. PROVENANCE: Mr. Sidney Osborne N.Y. & St. Catherines, Ont. (Osborne was a scientist and collector. Carl Sprinchorn visited his summer home in Ontario several times). Then to: Gerald F. Vulker, Ancaster, Ont. – to his daughter Myline Vulker, Barre, Ont. 1998. To: Chris Huntington, Patten, Me. 1999. Exhibited at Bates College Art Museum Apr. 13 – June 30, 2001. Also at the Georgetown Historical Society Me. “Georgetown Goes Modern” June 25 – Sept. 10, 2011. Illustrated in color “Georgetown Goes Modern” 2012. CONDITION: Very good. 9-25613 (30,000-40,000) Auction: Fine Art, Antiques & Asian - August 2012 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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