About this artwork
Some of Marin’s Cape Split seascapes incorporate voluptuous female nudes, who swim, wade, and sun themselves on rocks. His models included his wife and the couple’s neighbor, though many compositions were clearly imagined. When he started this watercolor, he addressed the seascape first, leaving the seven female forms in reserve. Marin later fleshed them out in pink, with darker red shading. He used black crayon to define the figures’ broken contours, underscoring each nude with a heavy, shiny black line to anchor the bodies on the rocks. Two horizontal lines in the sky seem to symbolize the unity of ocean and women in this world of abundant beauty.
-
Status
- Currently Off View
-
Department
- Prints and Drawings
-
Artist
- John Marin
-
Title
- Nudes in Sea
-
Place
- United States (Artist's nationality:)
-
Date
- Made 1940
-
Medium
- Watercolor with blotting, wiping, and scraping, and black crayon, with brown colored pencil, on heavyweight, moderately textured, ivory wove paper (all edges trimmed), in original frame
-
Inscriptions
- Signed and dated lower right, black crayon: "Marin 40"
-
Dimensions
- 39.1 × 53.3 cm (15 7/16 × 21 in.)
-
Credit Line
- Alfred Stieglitz Collection
-
Reference Number
- 1949.572
-
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.