Painting, Number 5
1914–1915

Marsden Hartley’s Painting, Number 5 (1914–15) is an oil painting on linen. The work measures 39 1/4th inches in height and 32 inches in width. It measures 99.7 centimeters in height and 81.3 centimeters in width.

This painting is filled with fragments of military pageantry that include banners, flags, medals, buttons, epaulets and symbols that are incorporated into an abstract composition. The fragments are subsumed into the shapes, patterns and colors of the overall work. We focus first on a round shape, which sits a little off-center within the painting’s overall composition. In its black circular center is a red cross, whose four arms are of equal length that get wider at the ends. It is surrounded by two outer circular bands: one is white and wide followed by a thin green outline. This circular shape overlaps another circular shape containing a black iron cross. It is placed within a red circle with a wide, golden band around its circumference.

Partially obstructed by these two circular shapes is a pole—yellow and black in color—that rises to the top of the painting and angles to our right. The lower part of the pole does not extend to the bottom of the painting. Black and white lines are attached to the pole and fan out to our right;  they bear a resemblance to a flag fluttering in the wind though its stripes are partially hidden by the circular framed crosses. 

As we work our way to the bottom half of the painting below the crosses, we can see  rectangular shapes of military medals, red ribboned with yellow medals. A fragment of the number “8” slides into view while to our right there is the checkered pattern of a chess board that we gaze down upon. (The artist has placed us in this position.) Epaulet-like shapes and designs that resemble military buttons are scattered and inserted in a composition dominated by curved bands of color and angled stripes that extend to the edges of the canvas. Vertical shapes reference flag poles. Imagine being inside a parade—jostled by military paraphilia—uniforms, flags, banners and crowds. The artist achieves this through his use of recognizable fragments and differing shapes that fill the canvas. Hartley’s palette employs bright reds, dirty yellows, milky whites set off by dark areas—all applied in a chewy painterly style. 

Narrator: Adam Weinberg is Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum.

Adam Weinberg: Painting Number Five, by Marsden Hartley, is an exuberant cacophony of color and pattern. Near the center of the canvas, two circles overlap—one contains the German Iron Cross, a medal of valor awarded to German soldiers for their courage in battle. The other contains a red cross. Look carefully and you can find references to flags, military insignia, and even an army uniform. The effect is like a collage, combining impressions of things Hartley encountered in Berlin, where he lived before the start of the First World War. 

What is the real subject of this painting? Think about how you recall things that have happened to you in the past. Often, it’s hard to conjure up a sense of something in its entirety. We remember a person or an event in the details—a gesture, a smell, a color. Hartley’s paintings function that way too; it’s actually a portrait, although the literal image of an actual person is altogether absent. The painting commemorates a young German officer, Karl von Freyburg, who died in the early months of World War I. Hartley was in love with von Freyburg, and he made this painting after learning of his death. 

Inspired by European avant-garde artists of the time, Hartley began to move away from direct representations of his subject matter toward more abstract, evocative imagery. Hartley once said that the artist’s challenge was to reveal what he called “the magic that is beneath the surface of what the eye sees.” In this painting, he captures a sense of an individual personality, and the emotional content of his relationship to Berlin and to von Freyburg. 

Adam Weinberg: Painting, Number Five, de Marsden Hartley, es una cacofonía exuberante de color y diseño. Cerca del centro del lienzo, se sobreponen dos círculos: uno contiene la Cruz de Hierro alemana, una medalla al valor otorgada a soldados alemanes por su valentía en la batalla; el otro contiene una cruz roja. Si se mira atentamente, es posible descubrir referencias a banderas, insignias militares e incluso un uniforme del ejército. El efecto es semejante a un collage; combina impresiones de elementos que Hartley encontró en Berlín, donde vivió antes del inicio de la Primera Guerra Mundial.

¿Cuál es el verdadero tema de esta pintura? Piense en la manera en que recuerda lo que le ha sucedido en el pasado. Con frecuencia es difícil evocar un evento en su totalidad. Recordamos a una persona o un suceso por los detalles: un gesto, un aroma, un color. Las pinturas de Hartley funcionan de la misma manera; esta obra es, en verdad, un retrato, aunque la imagen literal de una persona real esté ausente por completo. La pintura conmemora a un joven oficial alemán, Karl von Freyburg, que murió en los primeros meses de la Primera Guerra Mundial. Hartley estaba enamorado de von Freyburg y realizó esta pintura tras enterarse de su muerte.

Inspirado en los artistas de la vanguardia europea de la época, Hartley comenzó a alejarse de las representaciones directas de los temas para explorar una imaginería más abstracta y evocadora. Hartley dijo alguna vez que el desafío del artista era revelar lo que llamó “la magia que subyace a la superficie de lo que los ojos ven”. En esta pintura, capta el sentido de una personalidad individual y el contenido emocional de su relación con Berlín y con von Freyburg.

Narrator: Adam Weinberg is Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum.

Adam Weinberg: Painting, Number Five, by Marsden Hartley, is an exuberant cacophony of color and pattern. Near the center of the canvas, two circles overlap—one contains the German Iron Cross, a medal of valor awarded to German soldiers for their courage in battle. The other contains a red cross. Look carefully and you can find references to flags, military insignia, and even an army uniform. The effect is like a collage, combining impressions of things Hartley encountered in Berlin, where he lived before the start of the First World War. 

What is the real subject of this painting? Think about how you recall things that have happened to you in the past. Often, it’s hard to conjure up a sense of something in its entirety. We remember a person or an event in the details—a gesture, a smell, a color. Hartley’s paintings function that way too; it’s actually a portrait, although the literal image of an actual person is altogether absent. The painting commemorates a young German officer, Karl von Freyburg, who died in the early months of World War I. Hartley was in love with von Freyburg, and he made this painting after learning of his death. 

Inspired by European avant-garde artists of the time, Hartley began to move away from direct representations of his subject matter toward more abstract, evocative imagery. Hartley once said that the artist’s challenge was to reveal what he called “the magic that is beneath the surface of what the eye sees.” In this painting, he captures a sense of an individual personality, and the emotional content of his relationship to Berlin and to von Freyburg. 

The semi-abstract style of Hartley’s painting means that we have to struggle a bit to decode its meaning. If you’d like to hear about it, please tap the button to continue.