Deer Isle, Maine 1922

John Marin made this watercolour of Deer Isle, Maine, sometime around 1922. It’s a whirlwind of greys, greens, and reds, like the memory of a place rather than a literal depiction. I can almost feel Marin dabbing at the paper, trying to capture the essence of the scene. What was he thinking as he flicked those greens across the foreground? Did he feel kinship with the Fauves, playing with colour like that? Those thin washes and broken lines remind me of Cézanne, but with a uniquely American energy. Marin's not trying to build volume like Cézanne, instead he's capturing something more fleeting, maybe the light, or the breeze. It makes me want to grab my own brushes and join the conversation. Painting is like that, an ongoing dialogue across time, each artist responding to those who came before. It's full of questions, never really settling on one definitive answer.