Marsden Hartley – Elsa Copenhagen (1916)

Louisiana Poster with the work, Elsa Copenhagen (1916), by the American artist, Marsden Hartley (1877-1943). Although Marsden Hartley has been called "America's first great modern painter of the 20th century", his original work has long been overlooked. Louisiana presented him in 2019 at the first retrospective exhibition in Europe for over 60 years&mdahs;an exhibition that was an eye-opener for most.

Marsden Hartley was both a painter and poet and lived much of his life as a nomad between Europe and the United States. Although he was almost always on the move, he never came to Copenhagen. The picture here is thus a geometrically inspired depiction of a Danish ship that was anchored in the harbor in Boston.

Hartley's many travels resulted in a series of deeply original groups of works from 1906 to 1943&mdahs;works that can be seen as a bridge between European and American modernism.

Among the works are abstract paintings based on military symbols from the horrors of the First World War, almost surreal landscapes from New Mexico and feminized figure paintings of muscular working men.

Marsden Hartley was centrally located in art life both in Europe and at home. But nevertheless, Hartley's art has been largely unknown&mdahs;perhaps because of the multifaceted nature of the work, which has made it difficult to place him in art history.

Louisiana's exhibition became one of the largest presentations of Marsden Hartley's art. With over 110 paintings, the exhibition covered the artist's entire work, including his work as a poet and essayist.