Artwork
Movement No. 5, Provincetown Houses
Movement No. 5, Provincetown Houses is an unspecified painting by Marsden Hartley. It dates from 1916 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Movement No.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work embodies his engagement with Regionalist ideals, emphasizing clear, representational forms rooted in everyday American settings.
Movement No. 5, Provincetown Houses depicts a solitary house set against a stark coastal landscape, a motif Hartley associated with themes of isolation and the search for spiritual refuge. The work embodies his engagement with Regionalist ideals, emphasizing clear, representational forms rooted in everyday American settings. Hartley painted the piece during his 1916 summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, a period marked by his shift toward more tangible subjects following earlier explorations of German military portraiture.
The painting reflects his fascination with the interplay of structure and environment, where the house serves as both a physical and symbolic anchor amid expansive, windswept terrain. This subject aligns with his broader artistic inquiry into the relationship between place and personal identity.
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil on canvas, measuring 50.8 cm by 40.6 cm, and depicts a house in a representational style characteristic of early American modernism. Hartley's technique combines simplified forms with flattened spatial depth, reflecting influences from both European avant-garde movements and regionalist realism. The work demonstrates careful handling of light and architectural detail, rendered with precise brushwork that emphasizes structural clarity. Its condition is stable, with no noted alterations to the original support or surface treatment.
History & Provenance
Movement No. 5, Provincetown Houses was created by Marsden Hartley in 1916, a period shaped by his return to America after time in Berlin. That summer, Hartley worked in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in the company of watercolorist Charles Demith and playwright Eugene O'Neill, a setting that informed his shift toward representational landscape painting.
The work is now held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains located. No further details about an earlier ownership chain, commission, or intermediate provenance are documented in the available sources.
Movement No. 5, Provincetown Houses has been held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains part of the collection. The painting's dimensions, recorded as 50.8 by 40.6, are consistent with its status as a held object within the museum.
The available sources do not document a specific accession number or a detailed exhibition history for the work, and no loan records or display venues beyond the Metropolitan Museum of Art are noted.
Context
Created in 1916, Movement No. 5, Provincetown Houses marks a pivotal shift in Marsden Hartley's career following his time in Berlin. After focusing on portraits of German officers, the artist returned to America and embraced representational painting and landscape subjects. This work reflects his engagement with Regionalism, an art movement that championed realism and straightforward depictions of everyday life.
The piece depicts a house, aligning with Hartley's broader turn toward local scenes during the summer he spent in Provincetown, Massachusetts, alongside figures such as Charles Demith and Eugene O'Neill.
Overview
Movement No. 5, Provincetown Houses is a 1916 oil painting by American modernist Marsden Hartley. The work belongs to the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It depicts a pair of stark, white structures with sharply angled roofs and modest dark windows, set against a muted background that hints at a coastal New England atmosphere.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Marsden Hartley was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist. Hartley developed his painting abilities by observing Cubist artists in Paris and Berlin.
