Venetian Canal c. 1907

This work by John Marin uses watercolor and graphite to conjure Venice. It's like he's trying to capture not just what he sees, but how it feels to be there, in the moment. I can imagine Marin standing by the canal, squinting in the sunlight, his hand moving quickly to capture the scene, probably balancing his paper on a small portable easel. You see the grey paper peeking through the strokes of colour, which feels like he’s scraping and smudging to find the essence of the place. It reminds me of how we try to hold onto a memory that’s already fading. Marin was part of a whole conversation about how to represent modern life, especially in cities – think of the Impressionists, or later, the Abstract Expressionists. They're all trying to get at something beyond just a pretty picture. It’s about the sensation of being alive, here and now. And that search, that’s something every artist grapples with, in their own way.