maine – ultrawolvesunderthefullmoon

Hunt Slonem, “Black Finches”, Silkscreen Print on White Wove Paper, 2000, 24 x 36 Inches, Detroit Institute of Art

Hunt Slonem is an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker. He graduated with a degree in Painting and Art History from Tulane Univeersity in New Orleans, Louisiana and studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. He is best known for his Neo-Expressionist paintings of tropical birds, often based on a personal aviary in which he has been keeping from 30 to over 100 live birds of various species.

In 1976, Hunt Slonem received a painting grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation in Montreal, Quebec, and began painting in earnest. His first solo show was held at New York’s Harold Reed Gallery in 1977, followed by a major exhibition at the prestigious Fischbach Gallery on Madison Avenue in New York City.

Marsden Hartley, “Canuck Lumberjack at Old Orchard Beach, Maine”, 1940-1941, Oil on Masonite

Marsden Hartley, one of the first American artists to paint in a completely abstract mode, was part of the circle of artists, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Charles Demuth, and John Marin, who congregated around and were promoted by photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Hartley incorporated into his own paintings the abstract trends that he witnessed first-hand during his time among avant-garde artists in Europe during the 1910s.

While his early abstract style met with resistance back in the States, Hartley, undeterred, continued to paint his more recognizable subject matter with the same vivid colors, sharp contrasts, simplified forms, and ambiguous space that he mastered early in his career.

His landscape paintings, imbued with the spirit of 19th century American Transcendentalism, as well as his later portraits, which convey a love for and the earnestness of his subjects, are a uniquely American version of modernism that continue to resonate among younger contemporary artists today.

While he rarely discussed his private relationships in public, many now surmise that Hartley had several gay relationships throughout his life. At various points, he commemorated these relationships – more subtly in his early painting and more overtly in his later paintings – making Hartley an important early touchstone for gay identity in the United States.

A more complete biography of Marsden Hartley, along with other images of his work, can be found in the December 21, 2021 article of this site.