On the Brooklyn Bridge 1944

John Marin made this drawing of the Brooklyn Bridge with graphite on paper. It’s so skeletal, right? Like an X-ray of a bridge. I can almost feel Marin standing there, sketching quickly, trying to catch the feeling of this massive structure. Did you know Marin kept returning to the same motifs over his lifetime? Imagine him, out in the elements, lightly touching the page and trying to find his own place in the cityscape. I love the way he suggests the bridge’s cables with these bold, diagonal lines. They're like slashes that cut through the air. And then, these delicate, almost ghostly shapes of buildings hovering in the background. This bridge drawing reminds me of Cy Twombly's scribbly lines—so free and expressive. You can sense Marin’s energy and excitement in these marks. It’s like he’s not just drawing the bridge, but also drawing his experience of being there, in that moment. Artists, we’re all just copying each other, aren’t we?