Landscape c. 1895 - 1900

John Marin's "Landscape" is rendered in watercolor, a medium prized for its immediacy and transparency. Marin’s method involves layering washes of diluted pigment, allowing the white of the paper to shine through. Notice the way the watery consistency influences the appearance of the landscape. The fluid nature of watercolor allows for soft, blurred edges, giving the scene a sense of atmospheric depth. These ethereal effects would have been important to Marin, who admired the spontaneous quality of the medium. Watercolor has a long history, associated with both amateur and professional practice. While valued for its portability, it was not always considered to be in the same league as oil paint. Marin was one of the artists who, through dedicated and innovative practice, really pushed watercolor into the realm of high art. Looking closely at the artist’s method reminds us that all art is fundamentally about materials and how they’re manipulated, not just the subject depicted.