Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - One Portrait of One Woman

Preview image of work. oil on composition board, One Portrait of One Woman 27403

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One Portrait of One Woman

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Artist

Marsden Hartley (Lewiston, Maine, 1877 - 1943, Ellsworth, Maine)

Title

One Portrait of One Woman

Creation Date

1916

Century

early 20th century

Dimensions

30 x 25 x 1/4 in. (76.2 x 63.5 x 0.64 cm)

Classification

Paintings

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

oil on composition board

Credit Line

Lent by the Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Bequest of Hudson D. Walker from the Ione and Hudson D. Walker Collection

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

This panel painting postdates Hartley’s first European sojourn, after his return to the United States because of the outbreak of World War I. The title alludes to the repetitive constructions of Gertrude Stein’s experimental texts, particularly her abstract word portraits. Other references include the red, white, and blue of both the American flag and the French Tricolor; a tipped-up tabletop à la Cézanne; candles signifying sacred space; and a tea cup symbolizing hospitality and connectedness. The word “MOI” hovers at bottom, placing the artist—and, by extension, the viewer—just outside the picture plane. This separation resonates with the painting’s function as a souvenir, invoking the cherished memory of a mentor, backer, and friend distanced by conflict, water, and time.