A key figure in the history of American Modernism, John Marin was one of the most popular and prolific artists of his generation. Described as a “poet in paint and an individualist,” Marin strongly believed that an artist should develop “a seeing of his own choosing,” and he did just that, working in a vigorous semi-abstract style in which he synthesized cubist fragmentation and his concern for outdoor effects with a highly personal approach to line, form, and color (as quoted in “John Marin Is Dead: Water-Colorist, 80,” New York Times, October 2, 1953, p. 21). Marin’s oeuvre includes views of New York City; however, his primary thematic interest was landscape, especially the scenery he encountered in coastal Maine.
Born in Rutherford, New Jersey, Marin studied at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken in 1886–87, after which he worked as a draftsman for several years until joining an architectural firm in Union Hill (now Union City), New Jersey, an experience that enhanced his understanding of structure and design. In his spare time, he painted watercolors, attracted to the medium’s transparent, light-reflecting quality, as well as its inherent spontaneity and easy portability. In 1899, at the age of thirty, Marin decided to study art seriously, taking classes under the American impressionist William Merritt Chase, Thomas Anshutz, and others at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Marin made friends and gained recognition there before moving on to the Art Students League in New York, where he studied from 1901 until 1903. In 1905, he went to Paris, where he spent the better part of the next five years. While residing in the French capital, Marin produced etchings of local scenery and painted delicately rendered watercolors. It was there––through his association with the painter and photographer Edward Steichen––that he met Alfred Stieglitz, the influential gallery impresario who went on to organize a groundbreaking exhibition of Marin’s watercolors and oils at his 291 Gallery in New York in 1913. Stieglitz continued to promote Marin’s work until his death in 1946, giving him exhibitions at 291, and later at the Intimate Gallery. He also ensured that Marin’s pictures were shown at other leading Manhattan venues, such as the Montross Gallery and the Daniel Gallery.
Following his return from Europe, Marin continued to paint in oil but eventually turned to watercolor as his preferred medium. Eschewing the evocative style of his Paris period, he began depicting the skyscrapers and bridges of New York, capturing the energy and optimism of the modern metropolis by means of a dynamic technique that reflected his assimilation of the lessons of Paul Cézanne, Orphic Cubism, Futurism, and Expressionism. Marin also began making summer sketching trips to northeastern locales such as the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, the Hudson River Valley, Long Island, and the Adirondacks. However, a major turning point in his career occurred in the summer of 1914, when, at the suggestion of fellow artist Ernest Haskell, Marin made his first trip to the coast of Maine, which he would visit regularly for the remainder of his life.
