American Artist: Marion Caroline Hoffman Hartman

American Lady of the Post Civil War
Reconstruction Era, Depicted in an Outdoor Landscape
(Painted circa 1920 from a Photograph Taken circa 1870)

American
circa 1920
by Marion Caroline Hoffman Hartman (1892-1971)
(signed obverse, lower right, "M. Hartman")

watercolor on ivory; housed in a gilt metal case

About the Artist: Marion Caroline Hoffman was born in New York City, on October 12, 1892. She was the youngest of three children born to wealthy tobacco merchant Joseph Emanuel Hoffman (1849-1925) and his wife, Isabella Bookman (1859-1935). In 1920, she married Siegfried Frisch Hartman (1888-1953), a successful New York City attorney who rose to prominence in both corporate and government circles. (In 1933, he was appointed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "National Recovery Administration".) Little is known of Marion's artistic training. In fact, it would appear that painting was not a serious avocation for her until after her marriage to Siegfried Hartman in 1920, as no paintings are known to exist by her that are signed by her maiden name of Hoffman. Like many miniaturists of the early twentieth century, Hartman used photographs as the basis of her portraits, utilizing a process whereby a very faint photographic image would be applied to an ivory substrate, upon which she would then paint details in color. Some of her earliest works (such as the "American Lady of the Post Civil War Reconstruction Era") lack depth, especially in the modeling of faces. As her skill progressed, however, her best works incorporated fine brush strokes and dynamic use of light and shadowing, creating a very three-dimensional effect. Such works were quite popular with wealthy Americans who desired life-like, color versions of precious family photographs. Most, but not all her works are signed, alternatively as Hartman, M. Hartman, Marion Hartman, Marion H. Hartman or simply M. H. In 1950, Marion and Siegfried Hartman divorced. She subsequently married wealthy lumber merchant Hugo Kastor (1881-1956), in 1951. No works by her are known to exist that bear the Kastor name. In fact, there is little evidence that she continued painting beyond the early 1930s. Marion Kastor died in New York City, on September 30, 1971.Her works are in collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.), and the Navy Art Collection in The National Museum of the United States Navy on the Washington Navy Yard (Building 76, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.), and she is represented in several private collections. She is listed by Barratt and Zabar ("American Portrait Miniatures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, page 278), Falk ("Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975", page 1480), Clark ("The Society of Independent Artists: the Exhibition Record, 1917-1944", page 285, and Marlor (page 285).

Other portraits in the Tormey-Holder Collection by Marion Hartman
(click photos for larger views and additional information):

Alice Avery Arms (1851-1922), Wife of
Col. Charles Jessup Arms, Depicted in an Outdoor
Landscape (Painted circa 1922 from a
Photograph Taken circa 1915)

Audubon Arms (1876-1902),
Son of Alice Avery Arms and Col. Charles Jessup Arms
Depicted in an Outdoor Landscape
(Painted circa 1921 from a Photograph
Taken circa 1898-1899)

Natalie Arms Bunce (1877-1966),
Daughter of Alice Avery Arms and Col. Charles Jessup Arms
and Sister of Audubon Arms

Bayley Bunce (1914-1996),
Son of Natalie Bunce and Carleton Bayley Bunce
and Brother of of Peter Arms Bunce, Depicted
in an Outdoor Landscape (Painted circa 1922
from a Photograph Taken circa 1921)

Peter Arms Bunce (1915-1946),
Son of Natalie Bunce and Carleton Bayley Bunce
and Brother of of Bayley Bunce, Depicted
in an Outdoor Landscape (Painted circa 1922
from a Photograph Taken circa 1921)

Early Twentieth Century American Lady
Wearing a Mink Stole and Depicted
in an Outdoor Landscape