About the Object
Symbol IV and Symbol V feature elements of the natural world reduced to abstract signs that Hartley appropriated from Hopi and Zuni symbols and motifs. The verticality of the stacked forms in these charcoal drawings suggests the influence of Hopi dance wands. The drawings are filled with symbols of life and growth, from the sun to the branch-like symbols that represent corn.
Additional Information
Symbol IV and Symbol V are part of a group of six charcoal drawings that that connect Hartley’s Amerika works with his German officer series: Military Symbols 1; Military Symbols 2; and Military Symbols 3, all 1914, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Berlin Symbols #6, 1914–15, in the National Gallery of Art.
The Artist;
Estate of the Artist, Inv. #284;
[Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, NY, consigned by above, c. 1956];
David Anderson Gallery, New York, NY, from above, 1961-1971;
Robert and Eleanor Millonzi, Buffalo, NY, purchased from above, 1971-1997;
Forum Gallery, New York, NY, purchased from above, 1997-2005;
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, NY, purchased from above, 2005;
Jan T. and Marica Vilcek Collection, New York, NY, 2005-2023;
New York, NY. Anderson Galleries. The Forum Exhibition of Modern American Painters. March 13-25, 1916, no. 176.
New York, NY. Martha Jackson Gallery. Marsden Hartley – The Berlin Period, 1913-1915: Abstract Oils and Drawings. January 3-31, 1955, cat. nos. 13-18.
Brooklyn, NY. Brooklyn Museum. Golden Years of American Drawing: 1905-1956. January 22-March 17, 1957, p. 23, ill, np. [reproduced upside-down].
New York, NY. Hirshl & Adler Galleries. The Drawing Impulse in American Art: 1900-1950. April 21-June 3, 2005.
Tulsa, OK. Philbrook Museum of Art. From New York to New Mexico: Masterworks of American Modernism from the Vilcek Foundation Collection (February 8-May 3, 2015); Phoenix, AZ. Phoenix Art Museum (June 5-September 6, 2015); Santa Fe, NM. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (September 25, 2015-January 10, 2016).
Lewiston, ME. Bates College Museum of Art. Marsden Hartley: Adventurer in the Arts. September 20-November 19, 2021, pp. 9, 100, 102, ill. p. 103.
Santa Fe, NM. New Mexico Museum of Art. Marsden Hartley: Adventurer in the Arts. April 5-July 25, 2025.
G. Alan Chidsey, Trustee for the Hartley Estate. Volume of Photographs of Paintings, Pastels, Drawings and Lithographs by Marsden Hartley Washington, D.C 1944–1960. Archives of American Art, G. Alan Chidsey Papers, Inv. 285, as Symbols.
Elizabeth McCausland Papers, Marsden Hartley Catalogue Raisonné: Drawings, [circa 1944-1964]. Box 13, Folder 44, Frames 2, 10, ill. Frame 10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Elizabeth McCausland Papers, Other Research Files: Tabulation of Art Work, 1953. Box 19, Folder 7, Frame 6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Cummings, Paul. American Drawings: The 20th Century. New York: Viking Press, 1976, pp. 99-100, ill. p. 99.
Forum Gallery. Drawings by 20th Century and Contemporary Masters. New York: Forum Gallery, 2001. Monograph, checklist; illus. (color), as Symbol IV.
Harnsberger, R. Scott. Four Artists of the Stieglitz Circle: A Sourcebook on Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, John Marin and Max Weber. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002, p. 146.
Agee, William C. and Lewis Kachur. Masterpieces of American Modernism: From the Vilcek Collection. London: Merrell, 2013, pp. 13, 58-59, 235, 241, 266, ill. p. 58.
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