Basket with Fruit

Bold outlines and strong weighty forms coalesce with a compositional delicacy that forms the hallmark of Hartley's work.
The work has a long and distinguished provenance and exhibition history.
According to art historian Gail R. Scott, the painting was given by Hartley to his very good friend and patron, Adelaide Kuntz.
Kuntz supported Hartley for many years with modest stipends in return for which he gave her many of his works.
After his death, Kuntz gradually consigned or sold works and some were inherited by her daughter, Frances Malek after her death. In turn,
Malek continued to sell the works through various galleries and auctions.
Marsden Hartley (American, 1877–1943)
Basket with Fruit
1922–23
Oil on canvas
13 3/4 x 25 1/2 in. (34.9 x 64.8 cm)
Provenance
The artist
Adelaide Kuntz, Bronxville, New York, from the artist
Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York NY, acquired from above, ca. 1945
Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, October 9, 1963, Sale #2211, lot 46, illus. (b&w), p. 19
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, as of 1989
Spanierman Gallery, New York
Robert L. Raley, purchased from above
Private collection, gift from above
Robert Funk Fine Art Gallery, Miami, 2020
Exhibitions
1923 Hartley: Marsden Hartley, Berlin studio exhibition, Kantstrasse, Berlin, Private exhibition of paintings and lithographs In Hartley's Berlin studio, Spring 1923. Hartley invited Berlin friends to this private showing, including Pierre Coalfleet, Arnold Ronnebeck, and Rita Mattias, [possibly].
1948 Bertha Schaefer Gallery: Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York, Exhibition of Paintings by Marsden Hartley Before 1932, April 5 - 17, 1948 (exhibition brochure), no. 8, b/w illus., as Basket of Fruit.
1960–62 AFA: American Federation of the Arts Traveling Exhibition #60-8, Marion Kookler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Marsden Hartley Retrospective, December 6–31, 1960. Traveled to:Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio TX, December 6 – 31, 1960; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, February 3 – March 6, 1961; Amerika Haus, Berlin, March 15 – April 6, 1961; Stadt und Lenbachgalerie, Munich, April 16 – May 7, 1961; Amerika Haus, Stuttgart, Germany, May 10 – June 1, 1961; American Embassy, London, June 15 – July 15, 1961; Portland Museum of Art, Portland ME, August 12 – September 2, 1961; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN, September 25 – October 31,
Marsden Hartley
1961; City Art Museum, St. Louis MO, November 15 – December 15, 1961; Cincinnati Art Museum OH, January 1 – 31, 1962; Whitney Museum of Art, New York NY, February 20 – March 25, 1962 (March 7-April 8 [52 paintings, 14 drawings, and 7 lithographs dating from 1906-7 to 1943. Introduction by William Sandberg, text by Elizabeth McCausland, no. 22, illus., as Basket with Fruit, Bertha Schaefer Gallery.
Prepared for Robert Funk by Gail R. Scott, Director and Lead Scholar for the Marsden Hartley Legacy Project: Paintings and Works on Paper, Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, Maine, November 6, 2020
The work is fresh to market and in very good condition.
This work is included the Marsden Hartley Legacy Project, prepared by Art Historian Gail R. Scott. Director, of the Marsden Hartley Legacy Project with Bates College Museum of Art
Marsden Hartley was a prominent member of the Stieglitz group and trailblazing American modernist. His work is closely associated with Georgia O’Keeffe, John Marin, Arthur Dove, and Charles Demuth. His landscapes and still-lifes show the influence of Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso. Hartley his first New York solo exhibition at Stieglitz’s 291 Gallery in 1909. He studied under William Merritt Chase and later at the National Academy of Design, but his style was most greatly affected by Albert Pinkham Ryder and the Impressionist Giovanni Segantini. Clearly Marsden Hartley is one of Maine’s greatest modern painters.