Three Friends

From today for the next four Mondays we will features pieces from the collection of Indiana University Art Museum - some of them can be quite surprising for you. Enjoy! American artist Marsden Hartley spent the years 1913 through 1915 in Berlin, where he met Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, the leaders of the German Expressionist group Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider). Christian iconography appeared prominently in the work of the German Expressionists, who interpreted the traditional motifs as universal metaphors for human suffering and compassion. Hartley alluded to these concerns in his late painting, Three Friends. The painting depicts three socially marginalized figures—the crucified Christ, a nearly nude boxer, and a clown. These figures appear unified through suffering, but also through prayer and companionship.