Venetian Canal c. 1907

John Marin made this drawing, Venetian Canal, with watercolor and graphite on paper. The marks are so fleeting and light, it’s like he’s chasing a feeling rather than depicting a place. There’s this lovely pink smudge low down on the left, it feels like a key, a tuning fork, setting the register for everything else. See how it answers the blue-grey marks that describe the gondolas on the water. The paper is raw and exposed, so the drawing feels immediate, like a sketch made on the spot. The canal itself is barely there; Marin suggests its presence with a few deft strokes, implying depth and movement. Marin always reminds me of Arthur Dove. Both artists take a similar approach of reducing landscapes to their bare essentials, their work is about process, and embracing the unresolved. It shows us that art is an ongoing conversation, a perpetual dance of ideas across time.