Crab

This deceptively simple study of a downward view of a crab by modernist master Marsden Hartley is as much a well-observed document of a crab as it is a marvelous abstraction. Hartley strikes the perfect balance between intricate and simple, and monochromatic and a hint of earthy color. The more one studies this work, the more it invites a Rorschach-test-like interpretation. Different viewers will perceive other things and may discover a thing or two about themselves. Perhaps that is what drew the artist to the subject of a crab in the first place: self-discovery and the idea that beneath a crab's simple pattern lies the exploration of one's unconscious and the enigmatic.
(Alternate titles: "Coastal Still Life - Crab" and "Spider Crab")., Mixed media on cream laid paper mounted to illustration board, 14.25" x 19.5". Framed with a Museum-quality hardwood frame, an archival mat and Museum-level Tru View Anti-Glare Plexi in Mint condition. Frame size: 24 x 20.25
Unsigned. This work is included in the Marsden Hartley Legacy Project: Supervised by Art Historian Gail Scott - Complete Paintings and Works on Paper, Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, Maine.