Military

Military — Marsden Hartley. 1914–1915.

Medium: oil on canvas. Dimensions: Framed: 73.5 x 63.5 x 3.5 cm (28 15/16 x 25 x 1 3/8 in.); Unframed: 60.6 x 50.2 cm (23 7/8 x 19 3/4 in.).

Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

This abstract portrait is a memorial tribute to a German lieutenant named Karl von Freyburg with whom Hartley had been in love. The artist described von Freyburg’s death as an "unendurable agony," and created a series of deeply personal paintings in response. Here the shapes and color patterns suggest flags, banners, targets, epaulets, and other military paraphernalia.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.