Artwork
The Lost Felice
The Lost Felice is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Marsden Hartley. It dates from 1939 and is held in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
The Lost Felice is a 1939 oil painting by American artist Marsden Hartley. It portrays a solitary figure in a white apron holding a fish in a glass bowl, flanked by two shadowy forms with crimson faces. The composition is tightly framed, with a dark, undefined background that intensifies the figures' isolation. The work is part of the permanent collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, possibly a fishmonger or laborer, holds a pink fish with quiet gravity, suggesting themes of work, mortality, or ritual.
The central figure, possibly a fishmonger or laborer, holds a pink fish with quiet gravity, suggesting themes of work, mortality, or ritual. The two red-faced figures behind him remain enigmatic—neither clearly supportive nor threatening. Their color and stillness evoke a sense of presence beyond the physical, hinting at memory, loss, or spiritual observers. The title, referencing a name, adds a personal, perhaps mournful, layer.
Technique & Style
Hartley employs thick, deliberate brushwork to define forms, contrasting the apron’s luminous white against the deep, muted background. The red faces are rendered with flat, unmodulated pigment, creating a jarring emotional contrast. The fish’s delicate pink hue draws the eye, anchoring the composition. The lack of spatial depth and stylized figures reflect Hartley’s move toward symbolic, emotionally charged realism in his later years.
History & Provenance
Painted in 1939, during Hartley’s final years, The Lost Felice emerged from a period of personal reflection following the deaths of close friends and the artist’s return to the United States from Europe. It remained in private hands until acquired by LACMA in the mid-20th century. Its title and subject have not been definitively linked to a specific individual, leaving its narrative open to interpretation.
Context
Created near the end of Hartley’s career, the painting reflects his shift from early modernist abstraction toward more intimate, psychologically resonant imagery. Influenced by his grief and the cultural climate of pre-war America, the work diverges from his earlier bold geometric styles. It aligns with a broader trend among American artists of the time to explore personal and existential themes through simplified, symbolic forms.
Legacy
The Lost Felice stands as a quiet testament to Hartley’s late-period introspection. While less known than his avant-garde works, it reveals his enduring ability to convey emotion through restrained composition and symbolic color. Its presence in LACMA’s collection ensures continued scholarly attention, particularly regarding how personal loss shaped his visual language in the final phase of his career.
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.
