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Circus Elephants

A work made of watercolor with scraping and wiping, and with opaque watercolor, graphite and black crayon, on medium-weight, slightly textured, cream laid paper.
© 2018 Estate of John Marin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • A work made of watercolor with scraping and wiping, and with opaque watercolor, graphite and black crayon, on medium-weight, slightly textured, cream laid paper.

Date:

1941

Artist:

John Marin
American, 1870-1953

About this artwork

Among Marin’s favorite subjects in the 1930s and 1940s was the circus, a theme he worked on both in the city and at Cape Split. An avid circus visitor, he enjoyed the spectacle and sketching the animals. Marin loved the elephants most, responding to the dignity and grandeur of their movements. He began this watercolor by drawing the creatures and their surroundings with graphite and crayon. He then painted the forms with transparent watercolor, returning to add black crayon for the deepest lines. Painted, drawn, and subtracted diagonal marks conjure the effect of spotlights. The soft effect of wiping also contributes to the overall impression of dust hanging in the illuminated air, enhancing the artist’s evocation of heat, smells, and sounds.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

John Marin

Title

Circus Elephants

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.

Made 1941

Medium

Watercolor with scraping and wiping, and with opaque watercolor, graphite and black crayon, on medium-weight, slightly textured, cream laid paper

Inscriptions

Signed and dated lower right, in black crayon: "Marin 41" [formerly 42]

Dimensions

48.9 × 63 cm (19 5/16 × 24 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection and Robert A. Waller Fund

Reference Number

1949.609

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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