Marsden Hartley pioneered his mature style at Dogtown, an abandoned colonial village embedded in the woods near Gloucester, Massachusetts. Earlier in his career Hartley had exhibited his work at Alfred Stieglits's 291 Gallery, first in a one-man show in 1909 and then in a series of group exhibitions thoughout the 1910s. Stieglitz financed several of Hartley's trips to Europe beginning in 1912, exposing the young artist to European modernism, an influence that would become readily visible in his bold colors and flattened, abstract forms. When Hartley eventually returned to the Unitred states in 1930 after extended periods abroad, he went to New England. Immersing himself in mystical and metaphysical literature, he attempted to clarify and simplify his art during this period. Dogtown is characteristic of his simplified style. With its massed, sculptural forms and spare monumentality, it recalls Hartley's early exposure to the work of Paul Cezanne.