Taos Canyon 1929

John Marin made "Taos Canyon" with watercolor on paper, and when I look at it, I imagine him working en plein air, responding to the landscape with a sense of immediacy. The brushstrokes are so light and fleeting, and the color palette is a beautiful blend of earthy tones and watery blues, greens and browns. I think he was trying to capture not just the look of the canyon but also the feeling of being there. Look at how he used thin washes of color to create a sense of depth and atmosphere. You can feel the heat rising off the rocks and the cool breeze blowing through the trees. That one decisive blue stroke that defines the river cutting through the canyon—it’s like a painter’s shorthand, a way of suggesting movement and flow with minimal means. Marin was definitely in conversation with other modernists, pushing the boundaries of representation, and here, he shows us how painting can be a way of experiencing the world, not just recording it.