Michael J Hartwig
I am a Provincetown-based artist specializing in original oil paintings. I am represented by On Center Gallery at 352 Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts. I have a work studio on the second floor of Whalers Wharf in Provincetown.
My work as an artist developed unconventionally twenty years ago. I am a university professor with a background in religion and ethics. I wanted to find new ways of engaging students, and began work on a historical novel about Rome in the 1500s. I began to write a story involving several historical characters – Cardinal Giovanni Salviati, a Medici and prominent cleric in Rome and his resident artist, Francesco de’ Rossi who later came to be known as Francesco Salviati.
I was intrigued by the relationship between Salviati and de’ Rossi, wondering why an artist would take the name of his patron. As a gay man, I wondered if their relationship had been romantic, and I developed a plot that included those considerations. I added a fictional character to Salviati’s household, a Jewish immigrant, Lucia, whose parents died from the plague. She became Salviati’s in-house scholar, translating texts for him. She was also a sorcerer and inherited a grimoire (a book of magic) from her grandmother in Andalusia.
As I was writing the book and traveling to Rome to do research, I developed an intense urge to paint. At first it was the desire to capture the light and form of archaeological monuments and settings in Rome. Later, I experimented with images from Cape Cod, inspired by the light, dunes, and surrounding ocean and bay of Provincetown where I vacationed. The deeper I got into the story of de’ Rossi and Salviati, the more intense my desire to paint became.
I experimented with acrylics at first and then shifted later exclusively to oils. I combined images of Rome with seascapes and landscapes of the outer Cape. In 2008, I took a week-long workshop with Robert Cardinal, one of Provincetown’s most renowned artists. It was a pivotal experience, bringing my work to a new level of maturity. In 2017, I joined the community of artists represented by On Center Gallery and, in 2020, opened a work studio in Whalers Wharf.
I enjoy the creativity and inspiration of Provincetown and the amazing community of artists drawn to the Cape. In my paintings, I want to transport people to this special place. I want people to feel the warmth of the sunlight and the gentle breezes blowing across the dune grass. Inspired by Robert Cardinal, I love the intense color of light at the beginning and end of the day, reflecting off wharfs, barns, cottages, lighthouses, and boats. I want to convey the serenity and soulfulness I feel while I’m painting, the way in which an image begins to take shape and form on the canvas almost as if by magic.
Every artist dips his brush in his own soul,
and paints his own nature into his pictures.
Henry Ward Beecher
Click here to see Review of work in Provincetown Independent - December 2021
History of Art Exhibitions
2009 SoWa Open Studios, Boston, 2009 United South End Artists Open Studios, 2009 Juried Exhibition - Boston Arts Festival, 2010 United South End Artists Open Studios, 2010 Juried Exhibition - Atlanta Fine Arts League, 2011 United South End Artists Small Pieces Exhibition at OKW Gallery, 2011 Solo Exhibition at Peconic Vineyards - July - Artist of the Month, 2012 United South End Open Studios, 2013 Art Essex Gallery, 2013 United South End Open Studios, 2013 Juried Exhibition - Art Essex Gallery Invitational, 2014 New Works - October Exhibition - Art Essex Gallery, 2016 - Open Studio Event - Provincetown, 2017 - Members Open - PAAM - Provincetown. On Center Gallery - Provincetown. Member of Provincetown Art Association and Museum. 2018 - Represented by On Center Gallery, Provincetown- "Locals" exhibition in Aug. 2018 - Represented by On Center Gallery, Provincetown. "Locals" exhibition in Aug. 2019. GLAD live auction - July 27. "Virtual Connections" - On Center Gallery - May 2020. “Locals Show” at On Center Gallery - August 2020. Open Studio events - Oct. 30, Nov. 27 and Dec. 4, 2021. Featured show at On Center Gallery, August 2022.