And So Did Pleasure Take the Hand of Sorrow

and They Wandered Through the Land of Joy

 

 

October 28, 2022 – March 18, 2023

 

 

Eric Aho, Jack Balas, Katherine Bradford, Jennifer Coates, Lois Dodd,

Mark Milroy, John O’Reilly, Dan Schein, and drawings by Marsden Hartley


This group exhibition features the work of eight contemporary artists who make compelling art that engages with the work of Marsden Hartley. The title is a passage from “The Royal Love Child”, a 1904 poem by Hartley, chosen as it captures a range of imagery and themes found in the art of Hartley and participating artists.

Marsden Hartley’s oeuvre includes the genres of still life, landscape, portrait, and the figure–particularly of men; his themes include loss, mysticism, symbolism, and deeply personal imagery; and stylistically he was recognized for painting unconventional and thickly outlined forms, and for his expressive colors and compositions. The invited artists, all admirers of Hartley, make art that is in dialogue with differing aspects of this.

The Museum of Art holds the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, which consists of over 400 artworks and objects including over 100  drawings. In addition to participating in And So Did Pleasure Take the Hand of Sorrow…, each artist was invited to select a Hartley drawing, to be exhibited adjacent to theirs. These pairings allow viewers to engage with the works on view both separately and in dialogue with each other. 

Eric Aho, Source, 2019, oil on linen, 90 x 80 inches, courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York
Jack Balas, YOUNG BLADES ATOP MT. MARSDEN (#1459), 2017, watercolor on paper, 45 x 30 inches, Bates College Museum of Art, Gift of the Jack Balas and Wes Hempel, 2018.11.1
Katherine Bradford, Standing Figures in Summer, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, courtesy of the artist and Canada Gallery, New York
Jennifer Coates, Satyr, Lupines, Snake, 2022, gouache and colored pencil on paper, 9 x 12 inches, courtesy of the artist and High Noon Gallery, New York
Lois Dodd, Broad Cove on a Cloudy Day, 2014, oil on panel, 12 x 13 inches, private collection, ©Lois Dodd, courtesy of the artist and Caldbeck Gallery, Rockland, Maine
Mark Milroy, Win Knowlton, 2019, oil on canvas, 40 x 36 inches, courtesy of the artist and Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York
John O’Reilly, Dogtown-Hartley Series 10-14-09, October 14, 2009, Polaroid, color coupler print, halftone, gelatin silver print, 10 x 17 inches, Bates College Museum of Art, 2021.3.7
Dan Schein, Praise, 2020, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches, courtesy of the artist and Galleri Tom Christoffersen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Marsden Hartley, [Forest Glade], ca. 1935-36, black ink on white paper, 9 7/8 x 6 7/8 inches, Bates College Museum of Art, Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, Gift of Norma Berger, 1955.1.42
Marsden Hartley, [Dogtown study: Rocks, Fence Post, Juniper Trees, and Shrubs], ca. 1930s, black ink on white paper, 6 7/8 x 10 inches, Bates College Museum of Art, Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, Gift of Norma Berger, 1955.1.37
Marsden Hartley, [Standing Male Figure, No. 1], ca. 1938-41, graphite and black ink on paper, 9 3/8 x 4 3/4 inches., Bates College Museum of Art, Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, Gift of Norma Berger, 1955.1.6
Marsden Hartley, [Study for Fisherman’s Family], ca. 1936-43, pencil on white on paper, 10 1/2 x 8 inches, Bates College Museum of Art, Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, Gift of Norma Berger, 1955.1.96