St. Johns River, New Brunswick, Canada 1951

John Marin made this pencil drawing, St. Johns River, New Brunswick, Canada, on a simple sketchpad. It's all about the immediacy of the line. He's not precious; he's just there, recording, feeling the landscape. It's honest mark-making. You can see how the pencil almost dances across the page, light and quick. The lines aren’t trying to be perfect; they're capturing a fleeting moment, a sense of place. Look at the way he suggests the curves of the river, the textures of the trees. It’s all so economical, so direct. That scribble at the bottom right almost feels like a little signature flourish, or maybe it's just the river again. It reminds me of Twombly in a way, the way he used lines to suggest movement and energy. Marin's work is a reminder that art doesn't have to be labored over. Sometimes, the most powerful things are the ones that come quickly and intuitively.