Stonington Maine 1923

John Marin made this watercolor, Stonington Maine, in 1923, and it fizzes with a real sense of improvisation. Marin wasn’t trying to copy the town, but to find its essence, like a visual poem, made on the spot. Look at how the buildings are just suggested with quick, sure strokes. The paint is thin, almost translucent, like he’s barely touching the paper, and the colors are like a memory of place. He’s got these great blues and browns playing off against each other, mirroring the land and the water, but it’s the gestures that really grab you. See how the rooftops tilt and lean, like they’re gossiping with each other? Marin was always chasing the feeling of a place, the raw energy of it, like a conversation between himself and the world. It reminds me a bit of Arthur Dove, another artist who tried to capture the spirit of a place, not just its appearance. Art's not about answers, it's about questions, and Marin asks them so well.