In the mid-1930s, after many restless years of personal and artistic exploration, Hartley reoriented his art on his home state of Maine. Aware of Maine’s reputation as a natural oasis from city life and responsive to the popularity of so-called folk art, Hartley developed a self-consciously "primitive" style. In 1940 he moved to the small coastal town of Corea, where he commandeered an abandoned church as a studio and painted this gathering of lobster fishermen on a wharf, arranged against an elevated view of the harbor. Like the card players who appear in an esteemed series of paintings by Paul Cézanne, whom Hartley revered, these rugged fishermen appear common, but essential to the region. In particular, the figure on the left towers over the scene, suggesting his archetypal presence.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Lobster Fishermen
Artist:Marsden Hartley (American, Lewiston, Maine 1877–1943 Ellsworth, Maine)
Date:1940–41
Medium:Oil on hardboard (masonite)
Dimensions:29 3/4 × 40 7/8 in. (75.6 × 103.8 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1942
Accession Number:42.160
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): M.H./ 40-41
the artist (until 1942; on consignment with William Macbeth, Inc., New York; transferred by Macbeth on October 8, 1942 to Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York; sold through Rosenberg to MMA)
New York. Macbeth Gallery. "Marsden Hartley," March 9–28, 1942, no. 11 (as "Lobster Fishermen, Down East Maine").
Baltimore Museum of Art. "The Work of Three Outstanding Contemporary American Painters: Hartley—Intellectual, Cadmus—Satirist, Burchfield—Romanticist," July 5–September 6, 1942, unnum. checklist (as "Lobster Fishermen, Down East Maine," 1941).
New York. Paul Rosenberg & Co. "Paintings by Hartley, Rattner, Weber," November 3–28, 1942, no. 4 (dated 1940).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art," December 7, 1942–February 22, 1943, unnumbered cat. (p. 5; awarded a Fourth Prize).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," March 8–May 10, 1943, no catalogue.
Boston. Institute of Modern Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," May 22–June 19, 1943, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Marsden Hartley," October 24, 1944–January 14, 1945, unnumbered cat. (p. 82).
Venice. Biennale. "XXIV Biennale di Venezia," May 29–September 30, 1948, U.S. Pavilion no. 31.
New York. Columbia University Journalism Department. January 24–July 31, 1949, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Painters: A Special Exhibition of Oils, Water Colors and Drawings Selected from the Collections of American Art in the Metropolitan Museum," June 16–October 29, 1950, unnum. brochure (p. 7; dated 1941).
American Federation of Arts circulating exhibition. "American Paintings of the Twentieth Century," January 1951–November 1952 (lent to numerous U.S. venues, including those listed below), no catalogue (checklist no. 6).
Hagerstown, Md. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. "American Paintings of the Twentieth Century," April 1951.
Nashville. Watkins Institute. "American Paintings of the Twentieth Century," November 5–25, 1951.
Montgomery, Ala. Montgomery Museum of Art. "American Paintings of the Twentieth Century," December 1951.
Abilene, Tex. Abilene Museum of Fine Arts. "American Paintings of the Twentieth Century," April 7–20, 1952.
Shreveport. Louisiana State Exhibit Museum. "American Paintings of the Twentieth Century," May 11–25, 1952.
South Hadley, Mass. Dwight Art Memorial, Mount Holyoke College. "American Paintings of the Twentieth Century," November 6–25, 1952.
New York. Wildenstein. "A Special Exhibition of Paintings by American and French Modern Masters," May 4–28, 1955, brochure no. 15.
Huntington, N. Y. Heckscher Museum. "The Face of America," May 23–August 23, 1964, no. 36.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Three Centuries of American Painting," April 9–October 17, 1965, unnum. checklist.
Los Angeles. University Galleries, University of Southern California. "Marsden Hartley Painter/Poet 1877–1943," November 20–December 20, 1968, no. 105 (as " Lobster Fishermen, Corea"; addendum to the catalogue).
Tucson Art Center. "Marsden Hartley Painter/Poet 1877–1943," January 10–February 16, 1969, no. 105.
Austin. University Art Museum, University of Texas. "Marsden Hartley Painter/Poet 1877–1943," March 10–April 27, 1969, no. 105.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
Osaka. Japan World Exposition. United States Pavilion. "Images of America: American Painting," March 15–September 13, 1970, not in catalogue.
San Juan. El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. "Arte del Siglo Veinte: EE.UU. del Museo Metropolitano de Arte," April 19–May 31, 1974, no. 6.
Bellingham, Wash. Whatcom Museum of History and Art. "5000 Years of Art: An Exhibition from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," December 4, 1976–October 2, 1977, no. 80.
Moscow. State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Representations of America," December 15, 1977–February 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Leningrad. State Hermitage Museum. "Representations of America," March 15–May 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Minsk, Belarus. Palace of Art. "Representations of America," June 15–August 15, 1978, no catalogue.
New York. Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc. "Marsden Hartley: The Late Figure Works," June 4–30, 1990, no. 16.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "14 Americans," July 16, 1990–January 2, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting: 1905–1950," April 19–October 7, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory," October 1, 1996–January 12, 1997, extended to January 22, 1997, no catalogue.
Hartford. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. "Marsden Hartley," January 17–April 20, 2003, no. 88.
Washington, D. C. Phillips Collection. "Marsden Hartley," June 7–September 7, 2003, no. 88.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Marsden Hartley's Maine," March 15–June 18, 2017, unnumbered cat. (fig. 87).
Waterville, Me. Colby College Museum of Art. "Marsden Hartley's Maine," July 8–November 12, 2017, unnumbered cat.
Humlebaek. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. "Marsden Hartley: The Earth Is All I Know of Wonder," September 19, 2019–January 19, 2020, no. 99.
A. Hyatt Mayor. Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art. A Picture Book of the Prize Winners. New York, 1942, unpaginated, ill.
"Artists for Victory Score Victory in Metropolitan Exhibition." Art Digest 17 (December 15, 1942), pp. 6–7, ill.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Artists for Victory: Afterthoughts on the Huge Nation-Wide Survey at the Metropolitan Museum." New York Times (December 20, 1942), p. X9.
"Record Art Show Has $52,000 Prizes." New York Times (December 8, 1942), p. 30.
"Metropolitan Museum Opens Artists for Victory Exhibition." New York Herald Tribune (December 8, 1942), p. 21.
Howard Devree. "A Reviewer's Notebook: In Galleries." New York Times (March 15, 1942), p. X5.
Robert M. Coates. "The Art Galleries: Whew!." New Yorker (December 19, 1942), p. 82.
E.B. W. "Former Local Man Gets Metropolitan Museum of Art Award." Lewiston Evening News (December 12, 1942), p. 10.
Alfred M. Frankfurter. "The Artists for Victory Exhibition: The Paintings." Art News 41 (January 1–14, 1943), p. 12, ill. p. 8.
Roy R. Neuberger. "Artists for Victory." Art in America 31 (January 1943), p. 54.
"This Week in the Art World: 'Artists for Victory' Exhibit Here." Daily Boston Globe (May 30, 1943), p. C7.
Holger Cahill. "In Our Time." Magazine of Art 39 (November 1946), p. 316, ill., dates it 1941.
"The Americans at Venice." Art News 47 (September 1948), p. 25.
Robert Beverly Hale. 100 American Painters of the 20th Century: Works Selected from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1950, ill. p. 45, dates it 1941.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures. Vol. 17, album W, Twentieth-Century American Painters. New York, 1950, unpaginated, no. 18, ill. (color).
"Third Metropolitan Art Loan Exhibit Now Being Shown at Watkins Institute." Nashville Banner (November 14, 1951), p. 8.
Heinrich Riegner. "Die amerikanische Malerei der letzten fünfzig Jahre." Werk 38 (April 1951), ill. p. 121.
D. R. K. "Metropolitan Exhibit at Museum." Montgomery Advertiser (December 9, 1951), p. 29.
"Paintings of Famed American Artists to Be Shown Monday." Abilene Reporter-News (April 6, 1952), p. 7-B.
"New Exhibit by American Artists Opens." Shreveport Times (May 11, 1952), p. B9.
"Widely-Known Painters' Exhibit at Mount Holyoke Opens Thursday." Transcript-Telegram (November 5, 1952), p. 3.
Francis Henry Taylor. Fifty Centuries of Art. New York, 1954, ill. p. 183 (color).
Gorham Munson. "Homage to Marsden Hartley: The Painter from Maine." Arts 35 (February 1961), p. 41, calls it "Lobster Fishermen, Corea, Maine".
Henry Geldzahler. American Painting in the Twentieth Century. New York, 1965, pp. 61–62, ill.
Henry Geldzahler. Arte del Siglo Veinte: EE.UU. del Museo Metropolitano de Arte/ Twentieth-Century Art: U.S.A. from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. San Juan, 1974, pp. 20–21, no. 6, ill.
Thomas Schlotterback. 5000 Years of Art: An Exhibition from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., Whatcom Museum of History and Art. Bellingham, Wash., 1976, p. 110, no. 80, ill.
A. Hyatt Mayor. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Favorite Paintings. New York, 1979, pp. 108–9, ill. (color), calls it "Lobster Fishermen, Maine".
Milton W. Brown et al. American Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Decorative Arts, Photography. New York, 1979, p. 423, pl. 456.
Barbara Haskell. Marsden Hartley. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1980, p. 122, fig. 108.
Piri Halasz. "Manhattan Museums: The 1940s vs. the 1980s; Part Two: The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Arts Magazine 59 (March 1985), pp. 91, 93, calls it "Lobster Fisherman" and dates it 1941.
Lawrence B. Salander. Marsden Hartley (1877–1943): Paintings and Drawings. Exh. cat., Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc. New York, 1987, unpaginated, fig. 5, dates it 1942.
Townsend Ludington. Marsden Hartley: The Biography of an American Artist. Boston, 1992, pp. 277–78.
Donna M. Cassidy. "'On the Subject of Nativeness': Marsden Hartley and New England Regionalism." Winterthur Portfolio 29 (Winter 1994), p. 245.
Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser inMarsden Hartley. Ed. Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser. Exh. cat., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford. New Haven, 2002, p. 27, ill. p. 10 (color detail).
Donna M. Cassidy inMarsden Hartley. Ed. Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser. Exh. cat., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford. New Haven, 2002, pp. 185–86, 189.
Randall R. Griffey inMarsden Hartley. Ed. Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser. Exh. cat., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford. New Haven, 2002, p. 214.
Carol Troyen inMarsden Hartley. Ed. Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser. Exh. cat., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford. New Haven, 2002, p. 252 n. 29.
Amy Ellis inMarsden Hartley. Ed. Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser. Exh. cat., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford. New Haven, 2002, pp. 320–21, no. 88, ill. (color) p. 237 and back cover.
Stephen May. "Marsden Hartley, Four Decades as a Painter." Antiques and the Arts Weekly (February 21, 2003), p. 42, ill.
Tracey O'Shaughnessy. "Panorama: Marsden Hartley Earns His Keep on Modernism's Peak." Sunday Republican-American (January 26, 2003), p. 5H.
Chesley Plemmons. "Maine and Mountains." News Times (February 7, 2003), p. D1, ill.
Donna M. Cassidy. Marsden Hartley: Race, Region, and Nation. Hanover, N.H., 2005, pp. 199, 201, fig. 6.20.
Andrew Gelfand inMarsden Hartley's Maine. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2017, p. 28.
Randall R. Griffey inMarsden Hartley's Maine. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2017, pp. 106–7, 113, 127, 169, 171 n. 14, p. 175 n. 21, fig. 87 (color).
Isabelle Duvernois and Rachel Mustalish inMarsden Hartley's Maine. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2017, pp. 159–60, 162, figs. 154 (color detail), 155 (ultraviolet fluorescent image).
David Salle. "Marsden Hartley's Paintings." The Artist Project: What Artists See When They Look at Art. Ed. Chris Noey. New York, 2017, pp. 200–201, ill. (color).
Bob Keyes. "'Marsden Hartley's Maine' Focuses on a Complicated Love Affair." Portland Press Herald [pressherald.com]. April 16, 2017.
Randall R. Griffey inMarsden Hartley: The Earth Is All I Know of Wonder. Ed. Lærke Rydal Jørgensen and Mathias Ussing Seeberg. Exh. cat., Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Humlebaek, 2019, pp. 72–73, 138–39, no. 99, ill. (color) pp. 72, 113.
Frank Henry Goodyear III in "Marsden Hartley." At First Light: Two Centuries of Maine Artists, Their Homes and Studios. New York, 2019, ill. p. 65 (color).
Reggie Burrows Hodges and Suzette McAvoy in Hilton Als and Suzette McAvoy. Reggie Burrows Hodges. Exh. cat., Karma. New York, 2021, p. 17, fig. 5 (color).
Carl Little. "Marsden Hartley's Corea and 'Lobster Fishermen'." Islandinstitute.org. December 11, 2021, ill. (color).
Publishing and Marketing Assistant Rachel High discusses the work of Marsden Hartley and his relationship to his native state with Marsden Hartley's Maine co-curator Randall Griffey.
Marsden Hartley (American, Lewiston, Maine 1877–1943 Ellsworth, Maine)
1909
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