Accession # |
71.201 |
Artist |
Marsden Hartley
|
Title |
The Last Look of John Donne |
Date |
1940 |
Medium |
Oil on academy board |
Dimensions |
28 1/8 x 22 in. (71.4 x 55.9 cm)
frame: 37 1/2 x 31 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (95.3 x 80 x 7 cm) |
Credit Line |
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowenthal |
Location |
Visible Storage: Case 16, Screen F (Paintings)
|
Curatorial Remarks:
Marsden Hartley occasionally painted imaginary portraits of historical figures such as this one of John Donne, the seventeenth-century English metaphysical poet and dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London. The solemn portrait is based on an engraving of Donne’s carved tomb effigy that was the frontispiece for a collection of his sermons. The shrouded body is presented in a palette of blues and whites, cool colors evocative of death, while the striated pattern of folds approximates the hard, carved stone of the tomb.