Himmel Sky Object c. 1914 - 1915

Curator: Marsden Hartley's "Himmel Sky Object," created circa 1914-1915, fairly bursts off the canvas with color and shape, doesn't it? Editor: My initial reaction? It's joyfully chaotic! It feels like a toddler's room after a party – symbols everywhere, competing for attention. And yet… there's something magnetic about it. Curator: Chaotic joy, I like that. Hartley’s playfulness definitely shines. What do you make of the symbols he's playing with? Editor: Well, that central bullseye instantly reads as a sun, or perhaps a cosmic center. Then, you’ve got that toy horse, rigid and proud. Makes me think of power structures, childhood fantasies… maybe even war, considering the time it was painted. And of course “Himmel” means Heaven in German. I see these geometric objects as celestial or spiritual bodies in a strange kind of balance, frozen in time. Curator: A spiritual dimension is definitely present, and your observation about war rings true. Hartley was deeply affected by the outbreak of World War I and even more personally by the death of a close friend who was a German Officer. This painting is considered to be part of a series of works referencing Germany. Editor: Right, so that toy soldier... is that a memorial then, perhaps? A naive yet powerful symbol of lost innocence? Curator: I believe so, and look at how he frames it! Amidst all the 'chaos', you almost see the foundations for an expression of mourning. A sort of attempt to reconstruct something beautiful and nostalgic in a fragmented and increasingly threatening reality. It becomes so interesting how even something naive can hint at a person's grief, right? Editor: Absolutely. That naivete almost amplifies the emotional impact. It’s like looking at memory itself - fractured, heightened, imbued with a child's clarity and sense of importance. You know I think its kind of perfect, honestly. To channel something so tragic into such raw and energetic abstraction. Curator: I agree! Hartley offers us a world suspended, charged with energy and remembrance. An intense collision of life and symbolic gestures that never stops evolving. Editor: Precisely! I feel like every viewing reveals new layers, new stories whispering within the joyful chaos.