By the time Marin painted this dramatic image of a schooner riding the currents from Stonington to Boston, he had become known for his keen sensitivity to the unique properties of Maine, especially the life of the sea. His passion for boats was celebrated and, along with his forceful and emotional handling of paint, this subject became an icon of his persona. Here Marin used his wide three-centimeter brush, working the watercolor so vigorously that bristles became lodged on the work’s surface. The distinctive silver shadow-box frame—designed by Stieglitz—sets the watercolor back in space and reflects the artist’s interest in balancing oppositional visual forces.
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.
Watercolor with blotting and touches of scraping, and with charcoal with erasing, on moderately thick (estimated), moderately textured, ivory wove paper (right and lower edges trimmed), perimeter mounted to wood-pulp board, faced with ivory paper gilt with silver leaf, in original frame
Inscriptions
Signed and dated lower right, in graphite over watercolor: ”Marin / 22”
The Philadelphia Museum Bulletin, vol. XL, no. 206 (May 1945), p. 70 (ill.).
Mackinley Helm, John Marin (Boston, 1948), p. 9 (color ill.) and on jacket (ill.).
James Thrall Soby, “The Painting of John Marin,” Perspectives USA, no. 11, spring 1955, n.p. (illus.).
Sheldon Reich, John Marin (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1966), pp. 176, 379 (fig. 209)
Sheldon Reich, John Marin: A Stylistic Analysis and Catalogue Raisonné II (Tucson, Ariz., 1970), p. 520, no. 23.26 (ill).
New York, Montross Gallery, “Recent Pictures by John Marin,” Mar. 6–24, 1923, n. p., cat. 15.
New York, Museum of Modern Art, “John Marin,” 1936, opp. p. 12 and p. 71, cat. 60 (color ill.).
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, “A History of American Watercolor Painting,” Jan. 27–Feb. 25, 1942, p. 28, cat. 169.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, “History of an American: Alfred Stieglitz, ‘291’ and After,” July 1–Nov. 1, 1944, p. 31, cat. 225.
New York, Museum of Modern Art, “Alfred Stieglitz: His Collection,” June 10-Aug. 31, 1947, no cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Alfred Stieglitz: His Photographs and His Collection,” Feb. 2–29, 1948, no cat.
University of California, Los Angeles Art Galleries, “John Marin Memorial Exhibition,” 1955–1956, cat. 26 (ill.), dated 1925; traveled to Boston, Museum of Fine Arts; Washington, D.C., Phillips Gallery; San Francisco Museum of Art; Cleveland Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Palm Beach, Fla., Society of the Four Arts, March 9-20, 1956, n.p., cat. 39; Athens, Ga., University of Georgia; and New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.
London, Arts Council Gallery, “John Marin: Paintings, Water-Colours, Drawings, and Etchings,” Sept. 22–Oct. 20, 1956, n.p., cat. 56.
Tucson, Ariz., University of Arizona, Art Gallery, “John Marin, 1870-1953,” Feb. 9-Mar. 10, 1963, n.p., cat. 37, dated 1925.
Art Institute of Chicago, “John Marin’s Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism,” Jan. 19-Apr. 17, 2011, pp. 51, 67-68, 151, 153, fig. 53a, pl. 73; traveled to the High Museum, Atlanta, June 26-Sept. 11, 2011.
Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946), New York; Stieglitz Estate (Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), executor); given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1949.
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.