Rubber Plant 1920

Editor: So this is Marsden Hartley's "Rubber Plant" from 1920, done with oil paint. The first thing that struck me is how the familiar subject matter, a potted plant, is rendered so abstract and geometric. It almost feels like a still life built from memories or ideas. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The fracturing of form is indeed significant. Hartley, like many of his contemporaries, was deeply invested in exploring the psychological resonance of everyday objects. The Rubber Plant itself is an interesting choice—consider its symbolic weight during the rise of industrialism. It's a hardy, almost indestructible plant, popular in homes. Hartley takes this symbol of domestic stability and breaks it apart, suggesting a tension or perhaps even a questioning of those very ideals. Do you notice the dark leaves and the almost ominous colors he employs? Editor: I do see the darkness now that you point it out! It’s not a cheerful painting, even though it’s just a houseplant. It’s like he’s hinting at something unsettling beneath the surface. Why abstract a symbol of domestic life, though? Curator: Precisely. Think about the period: post-World War I, the rise of Modernism. Old values were being challenged, shattered even. Abstraction becomes a powerful language for expressing this uncertainty, this sense of a world being re-constructed. The angularity, the harsh lines… these visually communicate a break from traditional, comforting representations. What about the placement, the context, what does that say to you? Editor: The background feels claustrophobic, like the plant is trapped. The sharp angles closing in, not allowing space. I hadn’t noticed that before! It makes the plant less about growth and more about confinement. Curator: Indeed. And that very confinement becomes a powerful symbol. A simple still life, laden with the anxieties of a changing world, mediated through memory and cultural understanding. Editor: This has definitely made me see this seemingly simple painting in a whole new light. There is so much more at work in Hartley’s "Rubber Plant" than I initially thought. Curator: And that, perhaps, is the enduring power of art: its ability to reflect and refract our collective experience.