Still Life with Fruit 1927

Curator: This is Marsden Hartley's "Still Life with Fruit," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's so delicate! The soft pencil work almost makes the fruit look like it's fading into the paper. Curator: Hartley was fascinated by the symbolic power of everyday objects. This particular piece feels less about opulent display and more about…quiet contemplation. Editor: I'm drawn to the hatching – the way he builds up the shadows, giving form to these simple, domestic objects with just a pencil. One wonders about the paper itself: where was it made, who made it? Curator: His still lifes often explored themes of memory and loss. Perhaps these fruits, rendered so softly, represent fleeting moments. Editor: Right, but thinking about the physical act, the labor, the economy of mark-making here…it grounds the emotional reading for me. Curator: Certainly. Hartley’s material choices always served his broader artistic vision, though. Editor: Always something to learn looking closely, isn’t there? Curator: Absolutely.