Marie Jane Hughes Marin (Mrs. John Marin) c. 1944

This is a portrait of Marie Jane Hughes Marin, Mrs. John Marin, maybe made in New York, with oil on canvas. Marin is working fast here! Look at those gestural marks, all those blues and yellows. Imagine him attacking the surface, trying to get a likeness but also, something more—a feeling, an impression. It reminds me of Fairfield Porter’s portraits, the way he balances representation with abstraction, the thick paint, the expressive brushwork. I wonder what Marin was thinking as he made this? Was he trying to capture her essence, her personality? Maybe he was just playing with the paint, letting it do its thing. I love the way he suggests the pattern on her blouse with just a few dabs of blue. So simple, so effective. It's like he's saying, "Here she is, in all her glory, but also, here's some paint." It’s all connected, this lineage of painters working and riffing off each other.