New Hampshire Mountains 1924

John Marin made this drawing, New Hampshire Mountains, using crayon on paper. It's like he's trying to capture the energy of the landscape, not just how it looks. There’s something so immediate about the marks here. You can almost feel the speed of his hand. The blue crayon outlines the mountains, but it’s the scattered red marks that really grab me. They seem to vibrate against the cool blues and greens, adding a layer of excitement. Check out the horizon line, it's not a line at all. Just these broken strokes of green and red that suggest form and space. It’s like Marin is saying, "This is how I feel when I look at this place," rather than trying to copy it exactly. I see a kinship between Marin’s expressive lines and someone like Cy Twombly, both using gesture to convey emotion and experience. It’s less about precision and more about the messy, beautiful act of seeing and feeling.