Ye Old Dutch Church, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey c. 1950

Here we see John Marin’s sketch of ‘Ye Old Dutch Church, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey,’ using graphite on paper. The composition is immediately striking with its stark simplicity and energetic lines. The church, though central, is rendered with a restless hand, its architectural stability undermined by dynamic, almost vibrating lines. Marin isn't just depicting a church; he's capturing its essence through a modernist lens. The building’s form is barely contained, almost dissolving into the surrounding landscape. This challenges our conventional understanding of architectural representation, replacing stability with flux. The linear abstraction invites us to consider the structure of seeing itself. It poses questions about the nature of representation. Is it a mirror reflecting reality, or a constructive act, always mediated, never fully resolved? The drawing suggests the latter, reminding us that art is not about capturing a fixed truth, but about engaging in a continuous process of interpreting the world around us.