Marsden Hartley: The Fanfare Before the Fall
In the winter of 1913, the American artist Marsden Hartley arrived in Berlin. He found unbridled enthusiasm and a spectacle of color in the city’s many military marches. He also found love in the young Prussian officer Karl von Freyburg. Pre-War Pageant reflects both these emotional experiences and a bright and vivid encapsulation of European grandeur before the terrible war that would follow. Incorporating elements of Cubism, German Expressionism and Native American art, Pre-War Pageant represents a technical and stylistic breakthrough for the artist, as abstract shapes resembling military regalia are rendered in muscular brushwork. Explore this masterwork and more in Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale. (12 November | New York)