Crotch Island Granite Quarry c. 1920

John Marin conjured Crotch Island Granite Quarry with watercolor on paper; it’s a dance of diluted blues, whites, reds, and browns. I can almost feel the energy of Marin’s hand as he flicked these marks across the page – a way of seeing that’s about capturing the feeling of a place, rather than just its appearance. I see the influence of artists like Whistler, and I feel the push and pull of his own unique vision. Look at the water, how it’s both still and moving, how it's made up of many marks. Then there's the sky, not a solid blue, but a kind of atmospheric wash that lets the paper breathe. It’s like he's trying to get at something essential about the place, something beyond the granite itself. Painting is like keeping up a conversation with the world, and Marin’s right there, smack dab in the middle of it.