Collection Online as of November 29, 2023

Marin Island (recto); Landscape (verso)

1914

Part of a set. See all set records

John Marin

(American, 1870–1953)

America, 20th century

Watercolor on thick wove paper

Sheet: 41.5 x 36.6 cm (16 5/16 x 14 7/16 in.)

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1950.87

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Though Marin Island became a painterly escape for the artist, it had no source of water and was not habitable for Marin’s family.

Description

Marin bought a small island off the coast of Maine, but never lived there due to its lack of running water. However, it provided the site for numerous watercolors during his first summers in Maine. He anchored this work’s rainbow palette with a pool of dark green in the center, one of the few elements that grounds the composition in space. The playful blue flicks in the sky suggest something nonrepresentational, such as light, or energy.

Inscriptions

Inscription

recto: signed, lower right, in watercolor: Marin / 14 ; upper left, in graphite: 466- [circled]

Citations

Lee, Sherman E. Chinese Landscape Painting. 1954. Mentioned: p. 158, cat. 127; Reproduced: p. 120 archive.org

Exhibition history

Ways of Painting Landscapes. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 13-May 6, 1953).

1914. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 6-November 15, 1964).

Roots of Abstract Art in America. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC (December 2, 1965-January 9, 1966).

Water Colors from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 23-September 16, 1973).

Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).

America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985).

Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).