Maine Man Phillips Exhibit Shows Wide Style Range of American Modernist Hartley by Heather Nalbone It was Marsden Hartleyís art that first inspired Duncan Phillipsís interest in American modernism, so it is only fitting that the first retrospective of Hartleyís work in 20 years be held at the museum that bears the collectorís name. The roughly 90 paintings and 20 drawings now on display at The Phillips Collection pay tribute to an artist whose styles as a painter were as varied as the places to which his nomadic spirit led him. Countless museums have extracted categorical portions of his paintings for displayóbe it still lifes or cubistic imagesóbut few have tackled the vast range of his work all at once. At one point, Phillips even traded two of the early landscapes he had purchased for a few of Hartleyís later works in an effort to keep up with the artistís stylistic changes throughout his career. The chronological order of the paintings, organized by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Connecticut, allows viewers to absorb the drastic transformations Hartley made as an artist. Few other artists have been able to change their toneóboth in color scheme and subject matteróas effectively and freely. The exhibit begins and ends with landscapes of Hartleyís home state, Maine In the last years of his life, the artist deemed himself ìthe painter from Maine.î These images alone are revealing of Hartleyís progression as an artist. The purples and yellows of ìCarnival of Autumn,î an impressionist painting created in 1908, contrast with the dark, steep slopes of the 1942 piece ìMount Katahdin.î The first was created at the beginning of Hartleyís career, the second roughly a year before his death. Amid these two landscapes is a range of images inspired by both personal circumstances and contemporary styles. Hartley never stayed in one place for more than a few years at a time, and his approach to the canvas seems to have changed with each relocation. There are cubistic impressions of Provincetown, Mass., crude portraits of a family from Nova Scotia, and moving landscapes of the American Southwest. The exhibit contains pieces created throughout the painterís travels, from Paris and Berlin to Bermuda and Mexico. Some of Hartleyís most curious works are those included in his abstract ìWar Motifî series, such as ìBerlin Ante Warî and ìPortrait of a German Officer.î The highly symbolic assemblages of German imperial flags, the Iron Cross and regimental emblems painted against a black background were a product of the sadness Hartley experienced over the death of an intimate friend and cavalry officer who died in World War I. ìAtlantic Window,î painted no more than three years after the ìWar Motifî series, appears to be the product of an entirely different artist. The inviting vacation-like window scene captures more than a dozen colors in a soothing rendition of the soft sand, sailboats and distant mountain range that make up a small beach on the Atlantic Ocean. Hartleyís ability to alternate styles quickly and efficiently has made him one of the most widely acknowledged artists of American modernism. Viewed together, this particular collection of paintings gives viewers a glimpse of the various emotional and financial struggles that guided the tone of his paintings (he once had to destroy 100 canvases because he couldnít afford storage). Yet the works are presented only as great art, with little mention of Hartleyís private influences. His homosexuality, for instance, is barely touched upon in the accompanying wall text. ìMarsden Hartleyî runs through Sept. 7 at The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St., NW. For more information, please call (202) 387-2151 or visit www.phillipscollection.org. Heather Nalbone is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.