Details

Title

Grey Ledges, Blue Breaking Sea—Region Cape Split, Maine

Artist/Maker

John Marin (American, 1870–1953)

Date

1937

Medium

Watercolor on paper

Dimensions

15 3/8 x 20 15/16 inches

Credit

Gift of the Junior League of Atlanta, Inc.

Accession #

64.1

On View

Currently not on view

John Marin aimed to capture the light and movement in nature, casting them in a cohesive structure defined by fresh, sparkling colors. His glimpses of the Maine coast and Manhattan skyscrapers seem to burst with restless energy. A painting of characteristic vitality, Grey Ledges rocks with the nervous force of a choppy ocean. Marin appears to have painted with a frenzy that matched the tumult he saw before him. Primarily a watercolorist until his later years, Marin painted with a spontaneity and feeling for texture well suited to that medium. In the end, oil paint was no less an expressive vehicle for his empathic union with nature.

Image Copyright

© The Estate of John Marin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.