The Aero

Artist: Marsden Hartley (American, 1877–1943)

Original Dimensions: 39 1/2" x 31 15/16"

Location: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

About Artwork:  (c. 1914) "Completed in 1914, The Aero may have been the painting that Marsden Hartley described in a letter to his dealer, Alfred Stieglitz, the previous year: “I have one canvas ‘Extase d’Aéroplane’ if it must have a title—it is my notion of the possible ecstasy or soul state of an aéroplane if it could have one.” The artist was thrilled when he saw zeppelins, or huge airships, flying overhead. Both Europeans and Americans keenly followed advances in aviation, and Germany was swept by “zeppelin fever.” In the years leading up to the outbreak of World War I, potential rivals were concerned that Germany would build an air fleet capable of bombarding its enemies and transporting troops to distant places, even New York City. Yet Hartley did not address the potential danger; instead he presents an exuberant interpretation of one of the greatest inventions of the modern era.

Hartley lived in Berlin from May 1913 to December 1915, a period interrupted only by a four-month trip to New York from November 1913 to March 1914. Hartley’s imagery from this time has been widely acknowledged as constituting one of the most original new visual languages of modern art that emerged during the first two decades of the 20th century. Hartley combined the influences of fauvism, cubism, and German expressionism with his own mystical vision to create colorful abstract compositions that reflect his fascination with modern life in Berlin, especially the German military. The Aero is an energetic, colorful abstract painting that registers the influences of avant-garde art movements and alludes to one of the most revolutionary technological advances of the time." - (National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.)