Coming Up the Reach, Stonington, Deer Isle 1928

John Marin made "Coming Up the Reach, Stonington, Deer Isle" with watercolor and charcoal on paper. Look at these marks, quick and free, almost like the paper is breathing. I bet Marin was out there, feeling the sea spray, trying to catch the way the light bounces off the water. You can almost feel the boat moving, right? The charcoal lines give it that edgy, immediate feel, while the watercolor softens everything, like a memory. I wonder if he was thinking about the Futurists, trying to capture movement and speed in a still image? Or maybe he was just lost in the moment, trying to get down what he saw and felt. Those pink and blue washes are so light, almost like they're dissolving into the paper. It's like he’s saying, “Here’s the essence, the feeling of this place.” Painters are always riffing off each other, you know? It's all one big conversation across time. Marin is talking to Turner, to Whistler, and to all of us who try to make sense of the world through color and line. And isn't that what it's all about, this messy, beautiful conversation?