Skip to Content
Closed today, next open tomorrow. Closed today, next open tomorrow.

Movement: Fifth Avenue

A work made of watercolor with blotting and traces of scraping, and with traces of graphite, on moderately thick, moderately textured, off-white wove paper.
© 2018 Estate of John Marin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image actions

  • A work made of watercolor with blotting and traces of scraping, and with traces of graphite, on moderately thick, moderately textured, off-white wove paper.

Date:

1912

Artist:

John Marin
American, 1870-1953

About this artwork

In this groundbreaking watercolor, the spire of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral appears on the left, and the Forty- Fourth Street clock is on the right. To communicate his excitement over the buildings, Marin aggressively blotted and reapplied color to build up tonal planes. Combining staccato marks to denote windows with soft, wet applications in the sky, he added long vertical stokes conveying the upward lift of the structures. Making the road in the foreground arc up as if the earth itself were heaving, he surrounded the dark blue patches and lines with slivers of bright white paper. Overhead, the pink rays of the sun, like the hands of the clock, leave the unmistakable impression of New York at midmorning.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

John Marin

Title

Movement: Fifth Avenue

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1912

Medium

Watercolor with blotting and traces of scraping, and with traces of graphite, on moderately thick, moderately textured, off-white wove paper

Inscriptions

Signed and dated lower right, in blue watercolor: "Marin 12"; inscribed verso, center, in blue crayon: "185" [encircled]

Dimensions

42.8 × 34.8 cm (16 7/8 × 13 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection

Reference Number

1949.554

Copyright

© 2018 Estate of John Marin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share