Artwork
Movement
Movement is an oil painting by Marsden Hartley. It dates from 1913 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About this work
Hartley wasn’t chasing French trends—he chose German Expressionism and even mimicked music.
This painting shows jagged shapes in deep blues, reds, and blacks. Think of a city’s pulse caught on canvas. Hartley made it in Berlin in 1913, right before the First World War heated up.
Hartley wasn’t chasing French trends—he chose German Expressionism and even mimicked music. He wanted colors and lines to feel like a violin’s swell, not to tell a story.
Look up Vasily Kandinsky next—he tried the same idea.
Overview
Created in 1913 while the artist was residing in Berlin, this oil on canvas titled Movement captures a dynamic, unsettled atmosphere through intersecting planes of deep blue, red, and black. The composition conveys a sense of kinetic force that mirrors the restless energy of the city on the brink of war, employing abstracted forms rather than recognizable figures.
Subject & Meaning
The work does not depict a literal scene; instead it seeks to translate the experience of motion and rhythm into visual terms. By arranging sharp, angular shapes, the painter evokes the pulse of urban life and the cadence of music, aiming for an emotional resonance that bypasses narrative storytelling.
Technique & Style
Employing the bold color palette and exaggerated brushwork characteristic of German Expressionism, the artist emphasizes contrast and tension. The fragmented forms and stark outlines function like visual chords, each hue striking against the next to generate a sense of vibration akin to a musical phrase.
History & Provenance
Hartley completed the piece during his Berlin period, a time when he deliberately turned away from contemporary French avant‑garde influences. The painting remained in his personal collection before entering the public domain through a mid‑20th‑century donation to a regional museum, where it has been displayed in exhibitions focusing on early 20th‑century expressionist art.
Context
The painting emerges from a pre‑World War I environment marked by cultural ferment and artistic experimentation in Germany. Hartley's interest in aligning visual art with music parallels the explorations of Russian painter Vasily Kandinsky, who similarly pursued a non‑representational, spiritual approach to painting during the same period.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Marsden Hartley was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist. Hartley developed his painting abilities by observing Cubist artists in Paris and Berlin.
