Immanuel Church, New Castle, Delaware: Distant View 1931

John Marin made this painting of Immanuel Church in 1931, using oil on canvas. Look at how he lays down these washes of color. It's not about precision; it's about feeling the light and air around the building, right? The paint is thin, almost like watercolor in places, which lets the texture of the canvas peek through. See those blues and browns thrown in with the white of the steeple. It’s like he’s trying to capture a fleeting moment, a memory. There’s a real sense of movement, like the whole scene is vibrating. I’m particularly drawn to the way he's painted the trees. They look like they are dancing around the edges. Marin was friends with artists like Marsden Hartley. He had a similar way of trying to make visible the invisible forces acting on a scene. I love how Marin embraces imperfection and lets the paint do its thing. It’s a reminder that art is as much about the process as it is about the final product.