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Label Text Mont Sainte-Victoire (or Mountain of Holy Victory) in southern France captured the attention of a number of artists, including the pioneering French artist Paul Cézanne (say-ZAHN), who painted this view multiple times over his long career. Appearing decades later, Hartley’s depictions of the peak may seem derivative. On the contrary, Hartley intended these works as homage to Cézanne and his contribution to the development of modern art. This is noticeable in the quick, parallel brush strokes Hartley applied to create his subject matter. Unlike Cézanne, the younger artist has grouped the brush strokes together to form bands of bright colors. These regions of color build the composition like a jigsaw puzzle when looking at it from the ground up. Below is an image of Paul Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire. Can you spot what is similar between Cézanne’s painting and Hartley’s work of the same scene? What is different? Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906), MONT SAINT-VICTOIRE, ca. 1902-06, oil on canvas, 22 1/2 x 38 1/4 in., Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1994, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002 July 22, 2020
Exhibition History"Marsden Hartley: The Earth Is All I Know of Wonder", Louisiana Museum of Modern Art & The Contributors, Sep 19, 2019 - Jan 19, 2020

"Selected Works from the Des Moines Art Center's Permanent Collection," organized by the Waterloo Municipal Galleries, sponsored by the National Bank of Waterloo, Oct. 24 - Nov. 20, 1983, (circulated to: Charles H. Macnider Museum, Mason City, Jan. 15 - Feb. 26, 1984; Muscatine Art Center, April 1- May 13, 1984; Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, May 27 - July 1, 1984; Sioux City Art Center, July 15 - Aug. 26, 1984)

"Marsden Hartley," Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y., Mar. 4 - May 25, 1980, (circulated to: Art Institute of Chicago, June 10 - Aug. 3, 1980; Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Sept. 5 - Oct. 26, 1980; University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, Nov. 12, 1980 - Jan. 4, 1981; Portland Art Museum, Oregon, Jan. 28- Mar. 8, 1981)

"Mid-America Collects," Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oct. 23 - Nov. 27, 1977

"The Kirsch Years 1936-1958," A testimonial exhibition assembled from the permanent collections of the University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, and the Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines Art Center, Jan. 7 - Feb. 10, 1974; University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Feb. 25 - Mar. 31, 1974

"Six Decades of American Painting of the Twentieth Century," Des Moines Art Center, Feb. 10 - Mar. 12, 1961

"Current Painting Styles and Their Sources," Des Moines Art Center, 10th Anniversary Exhibition, June 1 - July 20, 1958
Published References"Six Decades of American Painting of the Twentieth Century," Des Moines Art Center, 1961, exh. cat. no.85

THE BARNES FOUNDATION JOURNAL OF THE ART DEPARTMENT, Vol.V, Autumn 1974, No.2, ill. for "Expression," pp. 3-32, ill. pl. no.51

"The Kirsch Years 1936 - 1958," Des Moines Art Center and the University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, 1974, exh. cat. no.23

"Mid-America Collects," Oklahoma Art Center, 1977, exh. cat. ref. no.23, b/w ill. (Short article on the history of the Des Moines Art Center's collection by James Demetrion, Director)

"Marsden Hartley," Whitney Museum of American Art, N. Y. and New York University Press, N. Y. and London, 1980, exh. cat. no.59, b/w ill. pl.39, p.89

"Selected Works from the Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collection," Waterloo Municipal Galleries, IA, 1983, exh. cat. no.15

"Marsden Hartley: The Earth Is All I Know of Wonder", Louisiana Museum of Modern Art & The Contributors, 2019, exh. cat. no. 54, p. 50 (see also text on p. 13, paragraph 2)

DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, 1985, ref. pp.80 & 81

Elizabeth Hutton Turner, AMERICAN ARTISTS IN PARIS 1919 - 1929, UMI Research Press, 1988, ill. p.177

Jeanne Hokin, PINACLES AND PYRAMIDS: THE ART OF MARSDEN HARTLEY, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1993, fig.30, b/w ill. p.63, copy p.62

AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.132, color ill. p.133

"Current Painting Styles and Their Sources," Des Moines Art Center, 1958, exh. cat. ref.

Judit Gesko, CEZANNE TO MALEVICH, Museum of Fine Arts, Budepest. 2021, illus. pg. 38, credit, pg. 464


DimensionsFrame: 35 1/4 × 42 5/8 × 1 3/4 in. (89.5 × 108.3 × 4.4 cm)
Canvas: 31 3/4 × 39 1/4 in. (80.6 × 99.7 cm)
Image (visible): 31 1/2 × 39 in. (80 × 99.1 cm)
Accession Number 1958.63
Classificationspainting
CopyrightPublic Domain
InscriptionsOn Frame Verso: 1) Marsden Hartley c/o Alfed Stieglitz 489 Park Ave (ink stamp) 2) 34 tableaux 11 toiles paintes 29 sous verres dessin 1 carton a dessin (u,r graphite) On verso of canvas : Toiles & Couleurs extra fines Lucien Lefebvre-Foinet Paris 19 Rue Vauin 82 Rue Brea (Linen makers stamp) On Original Strainer which has been replaced On top strainer member: 1) Rainford 34 -3 (black crayon) 2) 101 (white paper label with red boarder) 3) "Mont San Victorie" Marsden Hartley (graphite) C-1036 On center horizontal brace: 1) Babcock (white chalk) 2) iFor Steiglitz (graphite) On center vertical brace: 1) $2500 (black crayon) 2) 71453 (In Stieglitz's hand - EMcC) (red crayon) 3) Lucien Lefebvre-Foint, 19 Rue Vaun, &2, Rue Brea -- Paris (black stamp) 5) for vlau I 1476 (graphite) On vertical member: "Aix-en-provence"
ProvenanceArtist, Aix-en-Provance, France; (The Intimate Gallery, N.Y.). (Babcock Galleries, N.Y.); Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bohen [purchased from the previous, 1958]; Des Moines Art Center [gifted by the previous, 1958]

Images (1)

Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines

Audio (1)

Audio Transcript

DSM Speaks Audio Tour with Christina Fernandez Morrow, Community Member

Run Time: 2:30
Recorded by Christina Fernandez Morrow, CultureALL Community Ambassador / 2022


Christina Fernandez Morrow Bio

Christina Fernandez-Morrow is a sought-after speaker, writer and educator. She loves knitting in exotic locales and laughing with the kids in her life.

DES MOINES SPEAKS

DSM Speaks are short audio reflections on artwork in our permanent collection, written and voiced by diverse members of our community. Contributors to this program were selected in partnership with CultureALL and the Des Moines Art Center. We hope by elevating these diverse ways of seeing we can encourage all visitors to connect more deeply and to see themselves and their identities within our walls.

Mont Saint-Victoire
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Marsden Hartley
1929
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Marsden Hartley
ca. 1922
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Marsden Hartley
1940
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Jessup
1986
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Stanley Robert Boxer
1973
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Sean Scully
2003-2004
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Hedda Sterne
1949
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Cecily Brown
2005
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Judy Rifka
1984
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Anonymous
ca. 1830-1835