John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
American, 1872-1953
John Marin was born in Rutherford, New Jersey in 1870. His father was a public accountant; his mother died nine days after his birth. He was taken to his maternal grandparents with whom he lived in Weehawken, New Jersey. His grandparents, with their son and two daughters were the only parents Marin was to know; it has been suggested that his father seems to have ignored him. As a child of seven or eight Marin began to sketch and when he was a teenager he had completed his earliest watercolors. His education in the schools of New Jersey was interspersed with summers of hunting, fishing and sketching; he traveled in the Catskills, and as far away as Wisconsin and Minnesota. But formal training was almost incidental to his development as an artist.
He is to America what Paul Cezanne was to France - an innovator who helped to oppose the influence of the narrative painters, the illustrators who were more interested in subject than form, in surface than substance. Marin brought to his work a combination of values which, at the turn of the century, was unique in this country: an aliveness of touch, colors that have both sparkle and solidity, and forms that are vibrant with an energy characteristic of our age.
Marin established himself as a practicing architect. In the early 1890s, he worked for four architects and by 1893 had designed six houses in Union Hill, New Jersey. At the age of twenty-eight, he decided to become a professional artist and studied briefly at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the Art Students League in New York City.
As a watercolorist he had no equal. He used this fluid, spontaneous medium to abstract from objects - skyscrapers, boats, mountains and seas - a simplified anatomy of color and form and to define the pulsation of stresses and movements in the relationship of objects. It was a great disappointment, all his life, that his oil paintings did not achieve the popularity that his watercolors did.
From 1905 to 1910 he worked in Europe, where he was influenced by Whistler's watercolors. It was Alfred Stieglitz, Marin's lifetime friend and dealer, whose firm faith in his genius made his position in the art world possible. He developed a distinctive style that he used most characteristically in powerful watercolors of the Maine coast. During the 1920s he provided the dominant force in the movement away from naturalistic representation towards an art of expressive semi-abstraction.
He married Marie Jane Hughes after he returned to New York. They had one son, who grew up to run his father's considerable affairs. Marin continued to work at the same steady fast pace as long as he lived. Since 1908 he had produced 1700 paintings, an average of forty a year. He had made the frames for them as well. At the age of seventy-nine, he began to taper off from the days when he painted one hundred watercolors in a summer. He died in 1953.to
2
2
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
4
2
1
4
3
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
2
2
1
1
14
971
401
359
279
4
4
Artist: John Marin
Sea Movement, Maine - Watercolor Waterscape Painting, Maine Coast, 1937
By John Marin
Located in Palm Desert, CA
John Marin's "Sea Movement, Maine" (1937) exemplifies his dynamic approach to watercolor, a medium he transformed into one of the most expressive vehicles of early American modernism...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Brooklyn Bridge NYC American Scene Ashcan 20th Century Social Realism Modern
By John Marin
Located in New York, NY
Brooklyn Bridge NYC American Scene Ashcan 20th Century Social Realism Modern
John Marin (1870-1953)
Brooklyn Bridge
7 1/2 x 9 7/8 inches
Graphite on paper
Signed lower right, c. 1...
Category
1920s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Graphite
Maples in Autumn Foliage
By John Marin
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Maples in Autumn Foliage, 1949
Watercolor on paper
19 1/4 x 14 1/2 inches (48.9 x 36.8 cm)
Framed dimensions: 21 5/8 x 26 1/2 inches
Signed and dated lower right: Marin 49
Provenanc...
Category
1940s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
New York Street Movement and Figure - Architecture
By John Marin
Located in Miami, FL
This work by John Marin depicts an image of lower Manhattan which was Marin's more iconic subject matter. The work has a stellar provenance as well.
Provenance:
Kennedy Galleries
Richard York Gallery
ACA Galleries...
Category
1920s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Crayon
Related Items
A Charming 1940s Watercolor of Mexico w/ Cathedral and Rooftops by Rudolph Pen
Located in Chicago, IL
A Charming 1940s Watercolor of Mexico with Cathedral and Rooftops by Noted Chicago Artist, Rudolph T. Pen. Most likely completed during the artist's trip to Mexico in 1944 after rec...
Category
1940s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
$1,200
H 12 in W 22.5 in D 0.13 in
"NY Street Signs" Mid-20th Century WPA 1938 Modernist Abstract Realism Pop Art
By Stuart Davis
Located in New York, NY
"NY Street Signs" Mid-20th Century WPA 1938 Modernist Abstract Realism Pop Art
Stuart Davis (American, 1892-1964) "Street Signs" Modernist gouache and traces of pencil on paper in the proto-pop art style Davis is celebrated for, 1938, signed to lower right, framed. Image: 11 1/4 x 15 1/4 inches. Frame by Bark: 18 1/2 x 22 inches.
LITERATURE: A, Boyajian, M. Rutkowski, Stuart Davis, A Catalogue Raisonne, Vol. 2, New Haven, Connecticut, 2007, vol. II, p. 632, no. 1232, illustrated.
EXHIBITIONS: ACA Galleries, New York American Artists' Congress: Group Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Dec. 3-16, 1939 (SDAB I, 12/3/39, p. 129). Outlines Gallery, Pittsburgh, Stuart Davis, Mar. 3-16, 1946. Coleman Art Gallery, Philadelphia, 5 Prodigal Sons: Former Philadelphia Artists: Ralston Crawford, Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Julian Levi, Charles Sheeler, Oct 4 - 30, 1947 (pamphlet), no. 12.
PROVENANCE: The artist; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bowles, New York, Apr. 3, 1956; thence by descent, Private Collection, New York.
NOTES: According to the Catalogue Raissonne, "the title 'Street Signs' is recorded in the artist's account books...
Category
1930s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Gouache, Pencil
$125,000
H 18.5 in W 22 in D 1 in
Houses in Zoar, Ohio Landscape, Early 20th Century Cleveland School
By August F. Biehle
Located in Beachwood, OH
August Frederick Biehle (1885-1979)
Houses in Zoar, c. 1921
Gouache, litho crayon, colored pencil and graphite on paper
Signed lower right
14 x 19 inches
20.25 x 25.25 inches, framed...
Category
1920s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Crayon, Gouache, Color Pencil, Graphite
$7,250
H 20.25 in W 20.25 in
Chapel and houses along a lake, New England Landscape - American School, 19th C
Located in Middletown, NY
Watercolor and pencil on buff wove watercolor paper, 10 x 8 inches (255 x 203 mm). In good condition with overall minor toning. Some watercolor paint splatters on the verso, contem...
Category
Early 1900s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Pencil
A Northern Vision in Miniature
Located in Stockholm, SE
This exquisitely detailed drawing by Swedish artist Oscar Lycke captures a rustic settlement nestled in the golden highlands of northern Sweden, most likely depicting the traditional...
Category
1910s Impressionist John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Crayon, Watercolor, Pencil
Brookdale, New Jersey
By Oscar Florianus Bluemner
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Brookdale, New Jersey
Graphite on paper, 1922
Signed with the artist's initials l.l., and dated 1922 (see photo)
Annotated "Brookdale" front and back of sheet
Condition: Excellent
Ar...
Category
1920s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Graphite
Summer Landscape near Sundsvall, 1911
Located in Stockholm, SE
In this radiant drawing from 1911, Swedish artist Oskar Lycke captures the quiet grandeur of a summer landscape near Sundsvall in northern Sweden. The view stretches across a serene ...
Category
1910s Post-Impressionist John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Crayon, Ink
Farm Landscape, Zoar, Ohio, Early 20th Century
By August F. Biehle
Located in Beachwood, OH
August Frederick Biehle (1885-1979)
Farm Landscape, Zoar, c. 1923
Gouache, litho crayon and graphite on paper
Signed lower right
14 x 19 inches
17 x 23 inches, framed
A versatile pa...
Category
1920s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Crayon, Gouache, Graphite
Saint Patrick
s Cathedral from Midtown Manhattan
Located in Middletown, NY
Graphite with watercolor and black crayon on cream wove paper mounted to board, 12 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches (318 x 267 mm), full margins. Signed in pencil on the mount. In excellent condi...
Category
Early 20th Century American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Crayon, Watercolor, Graphite
Charles Ragland Bunnell 1935 Graphite Drawing, Colorado Modernist Cityscape
By Charles Ragland Bunnell
Located in Denver, CO
This circa 1935 graphite on paper drawing by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897–1968) depicts a modernist cityscape of houses perched on a hill in Colorado, reflecting the vibrancy and in...
Category
1930s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Graphite
$2,750
H 21 in W 21.5 in D 0.5 in
"6th Avenue El" American Scene Social Realism Mid-20th Century Cityscape Modern
By Max Arthur Cohn
Located in New York, NY
"6th Avenue El" American Scene Social Realism Mid-20th Century Cityscape Modern
Max Arthur Cohn (1903-1998)
6th Avenue Elevated
19 1/4 x 13 3/4 inches
Watercolor on paper
Signed an...
Category
1920s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
6th Avenue El at 8th St NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century
By Max Arthur Cohn
Located in New York, NY
6th Avenue El at 8th St NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century
Max Arthur Cohn (1903-1998)
6th Avenue El at 8th Street
13 x 18 inches
Watercolor on paper, c. 1930
...
Category
1930s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Previously Available Items
"Looking out the Window, West Point, Maine, " John Marin, Modernist Landscape
By John Marin
Located in New York, NY
John Marin
Looking out the Window, West Point, Maine, 1914
Signed and dated at lower right: Marin 14 // inscribed in Alfred Stieglitz's hand on an original label affixed to the reverse: Looking out the Window, Deer Isle— [sic] / Maine / by John Marin— / 1914
Watercolor and graphite on paper
19 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches
Provenance:
The artist
An American Place, New York, circa 1935
Dorothy Norman...
Category
1910s Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
"Delaware River Near Lambertville, New Jersey, " John Marin, American Modernism
By John Marin
Located in New York, NY
John Marin (1870 - 1953)
Delaware River Near Lambertville, New Jersey, No. 3, 1950
Watercolor, ink and pencil on paper
9 3/4 x 14 inches
Signed and dated lower right: Marin 50'
Prov...
Category
1950s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Pen, Pencil
"The Coast, Maine, " John Marin Early American Modernism New England Seascape
By John Marin
Located in New York, NY
John Marin (1870 - 1953)
The Coast, 1914
Watercolor and pencil on paper
15 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches
Signed and dated lower right: Marin 14
Provenance:
Ferdinand Howald, Columbus, Ohio
C...
Category
1910s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
"Delaware River Near Lambertville, New Jersey, " Mid-century Modern American
By John Marin
Located in New York, NY
John Marin (1870 - 1953)
Delaware River Near Lambertville, New Jersey, No. 3, 1950
Watercolor, ink and pencil on paper
9 3/4 x 14 inches
Signed and dated lower right: Marin 50'
Prov...
Category
1950s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Pen, Pencil
Saint Paul’s New York City
By John Marin
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed lower right “Marin”
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Kennedy Galleries, 1985
Jeffrey M. Kaplan Collection, Washington, D.C.
Illustrated: Kennedy Galleries
...
Category
1910s American Modern John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Graphite
Mark and Andrews Island from Deer Isle, Maine
By John Marin
Located in Greenwich, CT
Provenance:
estate of the artist
private collection, Massachusetts
Exhibitions:
Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, California, Paintings and Watercolors by John Marin, June 21 ...
Category
1910s Realist John Marin Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
John Marin drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic John Marin drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by John Marin in crayon and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1920s and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large John Marin drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Frank Wilcox, Louis Wolchonok, and Reginald Marsh. John Marin drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $32,000 and tops out at $32,000, while the average work can sell for $32,000.