Deer Isle, Maine 1919

John Marin made this watercolor, Deer Isle, Maine, on paper. I like how the colors here feel like they’re breathing; the lavender washes, the pinks and yellows, the sharp blues, everything feels immediate. It reminds me of when you’re painting outside, trying to capture the light as it shifts. I bet he was working quickly. He’s got these delicate marks, almost like he's drawing with the brush, describing the shapes of the trees, and the land, but not too much. The texture of the paper feels important, and the way the colors bleed. I can imagine him looking at a Marsden Hartley or an Arthur Dove, thinking about how to bring some of that American modernist sensibility to the landscape. I bet he was also looking at some of the European modernists, too. There’s something about the way the forms break up and come together. It's like he’s trying to find a way to paint feeling, not just what he sees, and that's a conversation that keeps going among painters.