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Tree and Sea, Maine

A work made of watercolor with charcoal and charcoal wash, on moderately thick, moderately textured, off-white wove paper (lower and right edges trimmed), in original frame.
© 2018 Estate of John Marin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • A work made of watercolor with charcoal and charcoal wash, on moderately thick, moderately textured, off-white wove paper (lower and right edges trimmed), in original frame.

Date:

1919

Artist:

John Marin
American, 1870-1953

About this artwork

Here Marin emphasized the colors, shapes, and textures that differentiate the various pines found along the Maine coast. A particularly gnarled, distorted tree moves with the frenetic energy of a dancer, while its companions rattle and sway in the breeze. Marin combined his hieroglyphic mark making with a carefully orchestrated color palette: rays of yellow sun warm the horizon, while touches of bright red-orange lead the eye into space. Again defying tradition, he used charcoal wash to darken and muddy the red tones of the clustered trees in the middle ground. He painted over heavy charcoal lines, smearing the particles to create a dark haze. Juxtaposing complexity of line with an unusually direct application of color, the artist captured a sensation of life in motion that is joyful, almost spiritual.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

John Marin

Title

Tree and Sea, Maine

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.

1919

Medium

Watercolor with charcoal and charcoal wash, on moderately thick, moderately textured, off-white wove paper (lower and right edges trimmed), in original frame

Inscriptions

Signed and dated recto, lower right corner, in purple wash over charcoal: "Marin 19"; inscribed verso, center, in graphite: “Property Stieglitz”; lower right, in graphite: “AS”; upper right: “#3”; top center, graphite: ”X”

Dimensions

42.3 × 35.2 cm (16 11/16 × 13 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection

Reference Number

1949.559

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.

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