Note: New York Series: From Weehawken Heights showcases the mature style of Marin. Even at this late point in his career, his work is full of energy, capturing the speed of the city and his own enthusiasm. The canvas features a unique use of brushwork to build space, yet the lyricism for which he was so well known is still present and, as art historian and former associate curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art William C. Agee confirms, works of this period are composed rather than constructed.[1] Marin’s lines are fractured and broken, causing the composition to verge on abstraction yet still hover within the recognizable. There is a minimalism present in this piece, with much of the canvas remaining bare and only the absolutely necessary strokes of paint used to build the scene. The perspective is slightly skewed, as if the viewer is both looking down at the ground and out across the river, furthering the dynamism of the work. At a time when pure abstraction was on the verge of dominating the New York art scene, Marin remained true to his own vision, never abandoning his early influence of Cézanne, while remaining relevant enough to pave the way for the coming generation. This painting was created at a moment when the artist had achieved more than he could have imagined, and rather than becoming complacent, he continued to paint with the ferocity of a young man. For an artist who placed so much importance on process and the act of creation, it must have been a pleasure to delve into a familiar, perhaps nostalgic, scene. Returning to a view that was meaningful to him, and had developed over the years just as he had, Marin had the inspiration he needed to create this ideal example.

[1] William C. Agee, John Marin: The Late Oils (New York: Adelson Galleries, 2008), 9.