John Marin sought Maine as a subject—its islands, mountains, beaches, and rocky shores—from 1917 onward. However, when he landed on Cape Split in 1933, he knew this remote and untamed northern locale would imprint his work, foregrounding the abstract properties that had always been a feature of his painting. Featuring 54 works, this exhibition will concentrate on the late period of John Marin’s (1870–1953) career. It will explore the interrelationship between his watercolors, sketchbooks, and oil paintings from 1933 to 1953. Marin sensed the radical potential of painting on Cape Split, transforming the ephemeral patterns of waves in their alternative states of turbulence and calm into innovative compositions, forecasting, as it turns out, some of the primary features and preoccupations of mid-century American art.
This exhibition was organized by the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA and the Portland Museum of Art.
Generously supported by Isabelle and Scott Black.
Supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Corporate Sponsorship provided by Bank of America, with additional support from The Bear Bookshop, Marlboro, Vermont. Media support is from WCSH 6, The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, and the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
