Every painter must traverse for himself that distance from Paris to Aix [where Paul Cézanne frequently painted in open air] or from Venice to Toledo [where El Greco lived and painted for many years]. Expression is for one knowing its own pivot. Every expressor relates solely to himself – that is the concern of the individualist.

statement for catalogue of 'Forum exhibition 1916', reprinted in On art, p. 66-67; as quoted in Marsden Hartley, by Gail R. Scott, Abbeville Publishers, Cross River Press, 1988, New York p. 57