Tunk Mountains, Maine c. 1945

John Marin made this watercolor painting of the Tunk Mountains in Maine on paper. It’s a scene that appears conventional at first glance: a landscape in the American Northeast. However, during the early twentieth century, American artists began challenging academic traditions. Marin, along with contemporaries like Georgia O’Keeffe, looked to nature for inspiration, but they weren't interested in merely copying what they saw. They sought to capture the energy and vitality of the natural world through abstraction. Consider Marin’s brushstrokes and the way he uses color to convey the feeling of the Maine landscape. Maine was becoming increasingly popular as a place for wealthy city dwellers to build summer homes. Marin’s paintings offered an alternative to urban life. To better understand this painting, we can consult period publications, letters, and exhibition reviews. Through that research, we see how Marin pushed the boundaries of representation, mirroring the dynamic forces of nature and reflecting a changing society.