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John Marin Art

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.
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'Bridge, Venice' — Turn of the Century American Impressionism
'Bridge, Venice' — Turn of the Century American Impressionism

'Bridge, Venice' — Turn of the Century American Impressionism

By John Marin

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

John Marin, 'Bridge, Venice', etching, 1907, Zigrosser 59. Signed in pencil. Signed and dated 'Marin 07' in the plate, lower center; titled 'Le Pont Venezia' in the plate lower right. A superb, delicately inked impression, on antique cream laid paper, the full sheet with margins (5/8 to 3/4 inches); slight lightening to the paper within the original mat opening, otherwise in excellent condition. Printed by George Haskell, New York. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 5 x 7 1/16 inches; sheet size 6 5/8 x 8 11/16 inches. Literature: 'John Marin: Peintre Graveur', Charles Saunier, L' Art Décoratif, Paris, January, 1908 (illustrated). 'The Complete Etchings of John Marin', Carl Zigrosser, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1969 (illustrated). Impressions of this work are in the following museum collections: Art Institute of Chicago (Stieglitz Collection), Cleveland Museum of Art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. ABOUT THE ARTIST "How to paint the landscape: First, you make your bow to the landscape. Then you wait, and if the landscape bows to you, then, and only then, can you paint the landscape." —John Marin “I would say to a person who thinks he wants to paint, go and look at the way a bird flies, a man walks, the sea moves. There are certain laws, certain formulae. You have to know them. They are nature's laws and you have to follow them just as nature follows them... You don't create the formulae... You see them." —John Marin, conversation with Dorothy Norman...

Category

Early 1900s American Impressionist John Marin Art

Materials

Etching

Brooklyn Bridge NYC American Scene Ashcan 20th Century Social Realism Modern
Brooklyn Bridge NYC American Scene Ashcan 20th Century Social Realism Modern

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 Art

Materials

Paper, Graphite

"A Bit of Stonington" John Marin, American Modernism, Maine Landscape
"A Bit of Stonington" John Marin, American Modernism, Maine Landscape

"A Bit of Stonington" John Marin, American Modernism, Maine Landscape

By John Marin

Located in New York, NY

John Marin A Bit of Stonington, 1926 Signed and dated lower right, inscribed and dated on the reverse Watercolor and charcoal on paper 13 3/4 x 17 inches Provenance The Downtown Gal...

Category

1920s American Modern John Marin Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Watercolor

Meaux Cathedral II
Meaux Cathedral II

Meaux Cathedral II

By John Marin

Located in Middletown, NY

Paris: Gazette de Beaux Arts, 1907. Etching with aquatint on cream wove paper, 8 7/8 x 11 1/2 inches (225 x 292 mm), narrow lefthand margin, with a full margin with a deckle edge on ...

Category

Early 20th Century English School John Marin Art

Materials

Handmade Paper, Etching, Aquatint

CANAL BRIDGE AMSTERDAM
CANAL BRIDGE AMSTERDAM

CANAL BRIDGE AMSTERDAM

By John Marin

Located in Santa Monica, CA

JOHN MARIN (1872 -1953) CANAL BRIDGE AMSTERDAM, 1906 (Zigrosser 13 i/ii) Etching, drypoint and plate tone. A PROOF IMPRESSION of the 1st state, Annotated...

Category

Early 1900s American Impressionist John Marin Art

Materials

Etching

John Marin Etching, 1921 - “Downtown, the El”
John Marin Etching, 1921 - “Downtown, the El”

John Marin Etching, 1921 - “Downtown, the El”

By John Marin

Located in Phoenix, AZ

Beautiful etching by John Marin (1870-1953) created 1921. Title: Downtown, The El (From the New Republic Set) Medium: Etching Size: 6 7/8 x 8 5/8. Sheet: 10 3/4 x 14. Mat: 16 x 17 3...

Category

1920s John Marin Art

Materials

Paper

Weehawken Sequence

Weehawken Sequence

By John Marin

Located in Bryn Mawr, PA

Weehawken Sequence, c. 1910-16 Oil on canvas board, 9 x 12 inches (22.9 x 30.5 cm) Framed dimensions: 13 3/8 x 16 1/4 inches John Marin’s long and prolific career is best marked by ...

Category

20th Century American Modern John Marin Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying)

Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying)

By John Marin

Located in New York, NY

John Marin (1870-1953), Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying), 1913, Etching. Z112. Edition c. 12 (Steiglitz); 1924, unknown but small (New Republic). Signed in pencil. Signed and dated...

Category

1910s Cubist John Marin Art

Materials

Etching

John Marin "Clock Tower of Santa Maria Zobenigo, Venice, Italy" Etching c.1907
John Marin "Clock Tower of Santa Maria Zobenigo, Venice, Italy" Etching c.1907

John Marin "Clock Tower of Santa Maria Zobenigo, Venice, Italy" Etching c.1907

By John Marin

Located in San Francisco, CA

John Marin "Clock Tower of Santa Maria Zobenigo, Venice, Italy" Original Pencil Signed Etching c.1907 Rare pencil signed etching by listed American artist John Marin (1870-1953) Pl...

Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist John Marin Art

Materials

Etching

Study for Mid-Manhattan II, Oil on Paper, American Modern, 1932
Study for Mid-Manhattan II, Oil on Paper, American Modern, 1932

Study for Mid-Manhattan II, Oil on Paper, American Modern, 1932

By John Marin

Located in Fairlawn, OH

Study for Mid-Manhattan II Oil and graphite on paper, mounted to board, 1932 Signed by the artist in pencil lower right Sight size: 8 1/2 x 7 inches One of a series of studies for th...

Category

1930s American Modern John Marin Art

Materials

Oil

Downtown, The El
Downtown, The El

Downtown, The El

By John Marin

Located in New York, NY

John Marin (1870-1953), Downtown, The El, etching, 1921, signed in pencil lower left (also signed and dated in the plate). Reference: Zigrosser 134, only state. Published initially by Alfred Stieglitz and then included as part of the Folio of American Etchings by the magazine The New Republic in 1924, in an edition of unknown size but probably above 500. In very good condition, the full sheet, on Van Gelder wove paper, 6 3/4 x 8 3/4, the sheet 11 x 13 3/4 inches. Provenance: Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, New York. A fine bright impression. Initially the New Republic Set, sometimes known as Six American Etchings, contained Marin’s Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying) (Zigrosser 112). But after a small number of sets were completed, Downtown the El was substituted for Zigrosser 112 (and so the number of Downtown The Els in the set would have been a bit fewer than the others in the set). Zigrosser, who apparently had not seen a complete set at the time he created the catalogue raisonne, conjectured that the substitution might have been because the original plate was damaged. But since the printer, Peter Platt, was the most renowned artist’s printer of his time, and worked alone, it is unlikely that he would have damaged the plate; a more likely possibility is that he switched to a print that was more comparable in size to the others in the set (The Brooklyn Bridge print...

Category

1920s Futurist John Marin Art

Materials

Etching

St. Germain-Des-Pres, Paris

St. Germain-Des-Pres, Paris

By John Marin

Located in New York, NY

John Marin (1870-1953), St. Germain-Des-Pres, Paris, etching, 1906. Signed in pencil lower right and titled lower left [also signed and dated in the plate]. Zigrosser 47, only state,...

Category

Early 1900s American Impressionist John Marin Art

Materials

Etching

Woolworth Building, No. 2
Woolworth Building, No. 2

Woolworth Building, No. 2

By John Marin

Located in New York, NY

A superb, richly-inked impression of this extremely scarce etching and drypoint. Second state (of 2). Edition of approximately only 10. Signed in pencil by Marin in lower right margi...

Category

1910s Modern John Marin Art

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

New York Street Movement and Figure - Architecture
New York Street Movement and Figure - Architecture

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 Art

Materials

Crayon

Ponte di Donna Onesta, Venice
Ponte di Donna Onesta, Venice

Ponte di Donna Onesta, Venice

By John Marin

Located in Missouri, MO

Very rare etching by John Marin. "Ponte di Donna Onesta, Venice" 1907 Original Etching Hand Signed Lower Right Titled Lower Left Edition: c. 30 Cat. Rais: ...

Category

Early 1900s Abstract John Marin Art

Materials

Etching

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St. Germain-Des-Pres, Paris

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Previously Available Items
Brooklyn Bridge, No. 6 (Swaying)

Brooklyn Bridge, No. 6 (Swaying)

By John Marin

Located in New York, NY

A dark, richly-inked impression of this extremely scarce etching. Edition of approximately only 12. Signed in pencil. Published by Alfred Stieglitz, 291 Fifth Avenue, New York. Cat...

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"Looking out the Window, West Point, Maine, " John Marin, Modernist Landscape
"Looking out the Window, West Point, Maine, " John Marin, Modernist Landscape

"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...

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Located in New York, NY

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Downtown, the El — early 20th-century modernism
Downtown, the El — early 20th-century modernism

Downtown, the El — early 20th-century modernism

By John Marin

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

John Marin, 'Downtown, the El', etching, 1921, Zigrosser 134. Signed in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, with skillfully controlle...

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Early 1900s American Modern John Marin Art

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"Delaware River Near Lambertville, New Jersey, " John Marin, American Modernism
"Delaware River Near Lambertville, New Jersey, " John Marin, American Modernism

"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...

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1950s American Modern John Marin Art

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Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Pen, Pencil

Downtown, the El
Downtown, the El

John MarinDowntown, the El, 1921

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H 6.88 in W 8.63 in

Downtown, the El

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Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

John Marin, 'Downtown, the El', etching, 1921, Zigrosser 134. Signed in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, with skillfully controlle...

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THE LOBSTER FISHERMAN

THE LOBSTER FISHERMAN

By John Marin

Located in Portland, ME

Marin, John. LOBSTER FISHERMAN. Z.172. Etching, 1948. Edition of 125 published by Twin Editions in 1950. Signed in pencil, and titled, signed and dat...

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1940s John Marin Art

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"The Coast, Maine, " John Marin Early American Modernism New England Seascape
"The Coast, Maine, " John Marin Early American Modernism New England Seascape

"The Coast, Maine, " John Marin Early American Modernism New England Seascape

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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...

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"Delaware River Near Lambertville, New Jersey, " Mid-century Modern American

"Delaware River Near Lambertville, New Jersey, " Mid-century Modern American

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Located in New York, NY

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Pont-Neuf, Paris
Pont-Neuf, Paris

John MarinPont-Neuf, Paris, 1905

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H 7.88 in W 5.44 in

Pont-Neuf, Paris

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Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

John Marin's atmospheric evocation of the historic Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris (the first stone was laid by Henry ...

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Early 1900s Post-Impressionist John Marin Art

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DOWNTOWN SYNTHESIS
DOWNTOWN SYNTHESIS

John MarinDOWNTOWN SYNTHESIS, 1925

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H 9.5 in W 7.625 in

DOWNTOWN SYNTHESIS

By John Marin

Located in Santa Monica, CA

JOHN MARIN DOWNTOWN SYNTHESIS (Zigrosser 140) Etching with tonal areas, 1925. Signed in pencil lower left, and titled lower right "Downtown N.Y." Edition c. 20. RARE. Only 2 have a...

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1920s American Modern John Marin Art

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Etching

MOVEMENT DOWNTOWN (Unknown Unique Example)
MOVEMENT DOWNTOWN (Unknown Unique Example)

MOVEMENT DOWNTOWN (Unknown Unique Example)

By John Marin

Located in Santa Monica, CA

JOHN MARIN (1872 – 1953) MOVEMENT DOWNTOWN 1914, (Not in Zigrosser) Etching, signed and titled in pencil. Signed & dated in the plate lower left. 8 3/8 x 6 5/8”, sheet, 11 ¼” x 9...

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1910s American Modern John Marin Art

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John Marin art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic John Marin art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by John Marin in etching, aquatint, crayon and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large John Marin art, so small editions measuring 7 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John French Sloan, Howard Norton Cook, and Kerr Eby. John Marin art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $400 and tops out at $45,000, while the average work can sell for $7,750.

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