METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. New York City
Portrait of a German Officer.
North Germany
1914
Artist. Marsden Hartley. American.
“This monumental painting is the centerpiece of a series that evokes the dynamism, pageantry, and danger of life in Berlin during World War I. The painting’s collagelike appearance, dramatic color, and emotional brushwork attest to Hartley’s skillful synthesis of Cubism and German Expressionism. Hartley’s composition is an abstract portrait of Karl von Freyburg, a Prussian lieutenant whom the artist loved and who died in the war. Von Freyburg is portrayed symbolically with the initials, “K.v.F.”; his regiment number, 4; his age at death, 24; and the Iron Cross that he received posthumously.”
