The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Rocks and Sea: Small Point, Maine

Rocks and Sea: Small Point, Maine

1931
(American, 1870–1953)
America, 20th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 65.4 x 80.6 x 6.4 cm (25 3/4 x 31 3/4 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 56.2 x 71 cm (22 1/8 x 27 15/16 in.)
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1956.361
© Estate of John Marin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

In a poll of art critics held in 1948 by Look magazine, Marin was named “America’s Artist No. 1.”

Description

Primarily a watercolorist, Marin did not start working with oil paints in earnest until he was 60 years old. This vigorously rendered scene focuses on white-capped waves colliding against the rugged contours of shoreline. The artist found Maine endlessly captivating, describing it as "one fierce, relentless, cruel, beautiful, fascinating, hellish, and all other ish'es place."
  • (Downtown Gallery, New York).
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 554 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 193 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 193 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 238 archive.org
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
    The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935. Figge Arts Center, Davenport, Iowa (September 17, 2005-January 1, 2006); Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA (January 29-May 21, 2006).
    Figge Arts Center, Davenport Museum of Art (9/17/2005 - 1/1/2006) and Tacoma Art Museum (1/29/2006 - 5/21/2006): "The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935"
    Bordeaux, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Made in USA: L'Art Américain, 1908-1947 (10 October-31 December 2001); traveled to Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts (18 January-31 March 2002); to Montpellier, Musée Fabre (12 April-23 June 2002), cat. not numbered, illus. p. 156.
    Made in U.S.A., l'art américain, 1908-1943, entre nationalisme et internationalisme [FRAME]. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France (organizer) (October 5-December 31, 2001); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Rennes, France (January 17-March 31, 2002); Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (April 10-June 25, 2002).
    Modern Art in America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (January 28-April 22, 2001).
    Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries (28 January-22 April 2001), cat. not numbered, illus. plate 126, p. 349.
    Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Reckoning with Winslow Homer: His Late Paintings and Their Influence (19 September-18 November 1990); traveled to Columbus, Columbus Museum of Art (16 December 1990-10 February 1991); to Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art (16 March-12 May 1991), cat. not numbered, illus. fig. 115.
    Southampton, NY, The Parrish Art Museum, Marin in Oil (18 July-20 September 1987); traveled to West Palm Beach, FL, The Norton Gallery and School of Art (11 October-29 November 1987); to Savannah, GA, The Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (20 January-7 March 1988); to University Park, PA, Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University (20 March-18 May 1988); to Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery (16 July-4 September 1988); illus. cat. no. 15, p. 80, listed p. 121.
    Munich, Haus der Kunst, Amerikanische Malerei 1930-1980 (14 November 1981-31 January 1982), illus. cat. no. 7, p. 27.
    John Marin in Retrospect. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (March 2-April 15, 1962); Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH (May 9-June 20, 1962).
    Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art, John Marin in Retrospect: An Exhibition of His Oils and Watercolors (2 March-15 April 1962); traveled to Manchester, NH, The Currier Gallery of Art (9 May-24 June 1962); cat. no. 5, not illus.
    New York, The Museum of Modern Art, John Marin: Watercolors, Oil Paintings, Etchings (1936), illus. cat. no. 162.
    Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, The 129th Annual Exhibition (28 January-25 February 1934), cat. no. 323, listed p. 36.
  • {{cite web|title=Rocks and Sea: Small Point, Maine|url=false|author=John Marin|year=1931|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1956.361