Hall of the Mountain King 1909

Curator: Welcome. We're standing before Marsden Hartley's 1909 oil painting, "Hall of the Mountain King." Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by how heavily the paint is applied. It's incredibly textural, almost sculptural, building up a really physical landscape. Curator: Indeed. Hartley was finding his footing at this time, grappling with the legacy of impressionism and the burgeoning move towards abstraction. His use of impasto lends the work an almost primal feel, especially when considering the context of European fascination with unspoiled nature and landscape as emblems of nationhood. Editor: The individual brushstrokes become building blocks, the materials becoming very prominent in their own right. It reminds me how dependent the artistic meaning becomes on the production methods when moving toward abstraction, and what processes of making become amplified in that context. I wonder about his relationship with this mountain… was it a spiritual haven, or raw material for image-making? Curator: That's precisely what art historians debate regarding early American modernists. On the one hand, landscapes were historically laden with symbolic significance related to westward expansion and national identity, especially in how they reflect a supposed collective national consciousness. However, Marsden's own letters reveal a much more private, emotional engagement with places, as he was known for grappling with themes of identity and sexuality which were repressed in broader society. Editor: So you're saying it wasn’t simply picturesque for its own sake? That there's a subversive dialogue? This shifts the focus from the majestic to the individual’s making of space. That thick paint reads now less like mountain-ness, more like defiant making, an action itself. Curator: I find it convincing, to read Hartley's expressionism through the lens of personal expression in the context of larger historical trends. What this artwork seems to suggest is a desire to reconcile public expectations with individual experience. Editor: Yes, this reconciliation also suggests an active renegotiation, in material terms, with the possibilities of an expanded notion of abstraction! Curator: It makes one ponder the weight placed on these wild landscapes. Thank you for this rich conversation. Editor: A truly enlightening exploration! Thanks.