New Mexico Recollection by Marsden Hartley - Essay Example

The paper "New Mexico Recollection by Marsden Hartley" is an outstanding example of an essay on visual arts and film studies. Marsden Hartley can be described as the most enduring painters of early American modernity. He created some of the most intriguing works during his sojourns in Mexico (1932) and New Mexico. As a restless New Englander roaming the globe in search of styles and subjects, he located the desert landscapes, bright light, vast vistas and unusual topography of Mexico and the Southwest frustrating and challenging. Therefore, he applied avant-garde concepts to localized subjects (Alexandre 1). The significance of his works and his diverse role in the field is evident in his Mexico and New Mexico collection. Hartley thought he had located his superlative subject theme in regions in the Southwest. However, Mexico appeared to present answers for a short period.
His collection shows a search for aesthetic inspiration. For instance, he incorporates elements of Cezanne-like still life, which he experienced in Paris. He also dabbled in mystical writings and arts and gained inspiration from Gertrude Stein, an expatriate patron. He also uses elements of cleanliness, modernity, and orderliness, which he learned while in Berlin. His collection also shows paintings reliant on American-Indian designs and objects are drawn from his experience and knowledge gained from visits to Indian Museums in Berlin and New York (Alexandre 1). He intertwined Native American symbols and artifacts into primitive and flat patterns and employed triangles and large curves reminiscent of the Berlin pictures.
His New Mexico collection appears as a direct response to the austere and vast mountainous landscapes. His work is characterized by muscular and bold marks besides deep emotional, spiritual connections and brilliant raw colors (Alexandre 1). This collaborates to outline the surroundings and the notions of the American landscape. These New Mexico Recollections present an extended involvement and attraction with the American landscape after he showed assimilation with European abstraction and modernity.