Painting No. 46

Marsden Hartley

1914-1915

oil on canvas

Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Marsden Hartley was an active member of both the American and European avant-gardes, forming close associations with artists including the trailblazing photographer and New York–based art dealer Alfred Stieglitz , who encouraged him to move to Berlin in 1913. There, Hartley became friends with and likely developed a romantic interest in Karl von Freyburg (German, 1889–1914), who was killed in combat during the first weeks of World War I (1914–1918). The artist visually mourned his loss in what is known as his “War Motifs” series, which includes Painting No. 46 . While this portrait of von Freyburg includes recognizable trappings of