Street Scene, NYC c. 1932

John Marin's "Street Scene, NYC" is all about the dynamism of city life, captured on a small sheet with graphite and touches of crayon. You can almost feel the artist's hand flying across the paper, trying to pin down the fleeting energy of New York. I imagine Marin standing on a busy corner, sketching furiously, trying to capture the organized chaos around him. The buildings are suggested with just a few lines, signs overlap each other, and the people are mere suggestions. It reminds me of how you try to fix a feeling on canvas. The light is implied through the white of the paper and sparse use of red crayon that gives a sense of urgency to the scene. Marin seems to be in conversation with the Italian Futurists here, who loved speed and the modern world. Like them, his work celebrates the new. But Marin brings something else: a uniquely American sensibility, rooted in observation and the raw energy of experience. It is painting as inquiry.