$38,100
Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000
What Do You See? The Collection of Sidney Rothberg, Part I
Auction: February 27, 2024 at 12 PM ET
Oil on academy board
16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5cm)
Executed in 1928-29.
The Artist.
Acquired directly from the above.
Adelaide Kuntz, Bronxville, New York.
Acquired directly from the above.
Collection of Mr. & Mrs. William H. Bender, Jr., Bronxville, New York.
Acquired directly from the above.
Collection of Mrs. William H. Bender, Bronxville, New York.
The Estate of Mrs. William Bender, Bronxville, New York, 1977.
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, sale of October 26, 1977, lot 152.
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, sale of October 27, 1978 lot 206.
The Collection of Sidney Rothberg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
"History of an American, Alfred Stieglitz: ‘291’ and After: Selections from the Artists Shown by Him from 1900 to 1925," Taft Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 31-March 18, 1951, no. 86 (exhibited as Pansies).
Mirell Gallery, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, 1954.
“Selected Works,” Alexandre Gallery, New York, New York, March 11-April 14, 2004 (exhibited as Pansy).
Elizabeth McCausland, Elizabeth McCausland Papers, 1838-1995, bulk 1920-1960, Series 6: Marsden Hartley, 1900-1964 (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.CC), box 14, folder 50, frames 16-17.
History of an American, Alfred Stieglitz: ‘291’ and After: Selections from the Artists Shown by Him from 1900 to 1925, an exhibition catalogue, Taft Museum, Cincinnati, 1951 p. 15, no. 86 (illustrated as Pansies).
The present Lot is included by Gail R. Scott in the Marsden Hartley Legacy Project: Complete Paintings and Works on Paper.
Please note this work has been requested to be included in the forthcoming exhibition “The First Homosexuals,” a large-scale exhibition of over 250 works presented by Alphawood Exhibitions at Wrightwood 659, a Tadao Ando designed exhibition space in Chicago, Illinois. The exhibition will open May 1, 2025 and conclude on August 1, 2025.
Pansy, a striking solitary yellow flower set against a dynamic purple backdrop, is a wonderful example by Hartley. The simplicity of the composition contrasts with the flower’s bold and distinctive form - a result of Hartley’s intentional and expressive brushwork that injects a sense of movement and energy into the piece. Through a touch of abstraction, the artist highlights the graphic qualities of the flower, distilling it to fundamental elements and stylizing its petals, center, and overall structure in adherence to a modernist aesthetic. Hartley’s use of a vibrant color palette amplifies the overall visual impact of the work, which commands the viewer’s attention. It also elicits a spectrum of emotions, from joy and warmth to introspection as pansies are generally associated with sentiments of love, remembrance, and thoughtfulness.