Woolworth Building [verso] 1913

John Marin made this watercolor, Woolworth Building [verso], sometime in the early 20th century with a light touch and a feel for the process. There's a dreamy, almost ethereal quality to this work, right? It’s all soft edges and muted tones; layers of delicate washes creating a sense of depth and atmosphere. Up close, you can see how Marin allows the white of the paper to shine through, creating a sense of luminosity. The colors – pale yellows, blues, and greens – seem to blend and bleed into one another. Note the way he suggests the branches of the trees with just a few quick strokes of the brush, leaving much to the imagination. It's not about capturing every detail, but about evoking a feeling. Marin's work reminds me a little of Cezanne, in the way he breaks down form into its essential components. But where Cezanne is all about structure and solidity, Marin is more interested in capturing a sense of movement and fluidity. It’s like he’s saying, "Here's a world that's constantly in flux, and all we can do is try to capture a fleeting glimpse of it."