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Lot Essay
John Marin was born in Rutherford, New Jersey at the dawn of the American industrial revolution in 1870. His mother died shortly after his birth, and his father sent him to live with his two maternal aunts in Weehawken, New Jersey where young Marin saw the development of the New York skyline first-hand from the banks of the Hudson river. A successful business man, Marin’s father was eager for his son to follow in his footsteps, and tried to place him into various forms of employment. He studied at the Stevens institute of Technology and tried his hand working at various architecture firms. He found the business world to be lackluster and eventually elected to enroll in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. At the Academy, Marin still did not find the inspiration his father hoped for. At the suggestion of his half-brother, Marin was sent to Paris at the age of 35 for additional studies. The only artwork he sold before departing he used to fund the purchase of Charles Blanc’s two volume study of Rembrandt’s etchings and a technical book on the medium.
During Marin’s time in Europe from 1905 through 1911, he vigorously pursued his interests in etching and watercolor. Curiously, he did not learn about the avant-garde innovations of Matisse, Cézanne, or Picasso during his time in Paris. His exposure to Modern art came upon his return. At the encouragement and financial support from his new gallerist, Alfred Stieglitz, Marin returned to New York and was given full artistic freedom. Stieglitz is remembered today as a pioneer of the art world, exposing many now famous American artists to the European Avant-Garde. John Marin was no exception, he absorbed these lessons and turned his eye to the changed city of his youth.
In the period between 1911 and 1913, John Marin took a significant stylistic departure from his previous work. He moved from naturalistic renderings of cathedrals, merchant streets, and European palaces to highly expressionistic images of trains, suspension bridges, and skyscrapers. In 1913, Stieglitz exhibited a selection of his Modernist etchings and watercolors by Marin. In his artist’s statement, Marin wrote:
“Shall we consider the life of a great city as confined simply to the people and animals on the streets and in its buildings? Are the buildings themselves dead? We have been told somewhere that a work of art is a thing alive….Therefore if these buildings move me, they too must have life.”
“And so I try to express graphically what a great city is doing.”
(quoted from Zigrosser, The Complete Etchings of John Marin, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1969)
Marin first exhibited his etching, Woolworth Building (The Dancing) in his 1913 exhibition. He would have witnessed the construction of the Woolworth Building which began in 1910 and opened in April of 1913. It was the tallest building in the world at the time. Like the Brooklyn Bridge, Marin returned to modern architectural achievements for several of his pieces. For the Woolworth Building he executed four variations, each progressively more abstract and expressionistic, with The Dance being the final manifestation. As with most of Marin’s graphics, he pulled the impressions himself and each impression was printed with subtle variations. This is a superb richly inked example. The great scholar and curator, Carl Zigrosser noted: “The ideal was a proof with the thinnest possible film of ink over all to give it unity, and with the lines amply loaded with ink to create a brilliant yet beautifully harmonious ensemble. Such prints sing.”
During Marin’s time in Europe from 1905 through 1911, he vigorously pursued his interests in etching and watercolor. Curiously, he did not learn about the avant-garde innovations of Matisse, Cézanne, or Picasso during his time in Paris. His exposure to Modern art came upon his return. At the encouragement and financial support from his new gallerist, Alfred Stieglitz, Marin returned to New York and was given full artistic freedom. Stieglitz is remembered today as a pioneer of the art world, exposing many now famous American artists to the European Avant-Garde. John Marin was no exception, he absorbed these lessons and turned his eye to the changed city of his youth.
In the period between 1911 and 1913, John Marin took a significant stylistic departure from his previous work. He moved from naturalistic renderings of cathedrals, merchant streets, and European palaces to highly expressionistic images of trains, suspension bridges, and skyscrapers. In 1913, Stieglitz exhibited a selection of his Modernist etchings and watercolors by Marin. In his artist’s statement, Marin wrote:
“Shall we consider the life of a great city as confined simply to the people and animals on the streets and in its buildings? Are the buildings themselves dead? We have been told somewhere that a work of art is a thing alive….Therefore if these buildings move me, they too must have life.”
“And so I try to express graphically what a great city is doing.”
(quoted from Zigrosser, The Complete Etchings of John Marin, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1969)
Marin first exhibited his etching, Woolworth Building (The Dancing) in his 1913 exhibition. He would have witnessed the construction of the Woolworth Building which began in 1910 and opened in April of 1913. It was the tallest building in the world at the time. Like the Brooklyn Bridge, Marin returned to modern architectural achievements for several of his pieces. For the Woolworth Building he executed four variations, each progressively more abstract and expressionistic, with The Dance being the final manifestation. As with most of Marin’s graphics, he pulled the impressions himself and each impression was printed with subtle variations. This is a superb richly inked example. The great scholar and curator, Carl Zigrosser noted: “The ideal was a proof with the thinnest possible film of ink over all to give it unity, and with the lines amply loaded with ink to create a brilliant yet beautifully harmonious ensemble. Such prints sing.”