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Rocks and Sea: Small Point, Maine

1931

John Marin

(American, 1870–1953)

America, 20th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 65.4 x 80.6 x 6.4 cm (25 3/4 x 31 3/4 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 56.2 x 71 cm (22 1/8 x 27 15/16 in.)

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1956.361

Location

not on view

Did you know?

In a poll of art critics held in 1948 by Look magazine, Marin was named “America’s Artist No. 1.”

Description

Primarily a watercolorist, Marin did not start working with oil paints in earnest until he was 60 years old. This vigorously rendered scene focuses on white-capped waves colliding against the rugged contours of shoreline. The artist found Maine endlessly captivating, describing it as "one fierce, relentless, cruel, beautiful, fascinating, hellish, and all other ish'es place."

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed lower right: Marin / 31

Provenance

(Downtown Gallery, New York).

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 554 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 193 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 193 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 238 archive.org

Exhibition history

Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, The 129th Annual Exhibition (28 January-25 February 1934), cat. no. 323, listed p. 36.

New York, The Museum of Modern Art, John Marin: Watercolors, Oil Paintings, Etchings (1936), illus. cat. no. 162.

Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art, John Marin in Retrospect: An Exhibition of His Oils and Watercolors (2 March-15 April 1962); traveled to Manchester, NH, The Currier Gallery of Art (9 May-24 June 1962); cat. no. 5, not illus.

Munich, Haus der Kunst, Amerikanische Malerei 1930-1980 (14 November 1981-31 January 1982), illus. cat. no. 7, p. 27.

Southampton, NY, The Parrish Art Museum, Marin in Oil (18 July-20 September 1987); traveled to West Palm Beach, FL, The Norton Gallery and School of Art (11 October-29 November 1987); to Savannah, GA, The Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (20 January-7 March 1988); to University Park, PA, Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University (20 March-18 May 1988); to Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery (16 July-4 September 1988); illus. cat. no. 15, p. 80, listed p. 121.

Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Reckoning with Winslow Homer: His Late Paintings and Their Influence (19 September-18 November 1990); traveled to Columbus, Columbus Museum of Art (16 December 1990-10 February 1991); to Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art (16 March-12 May 1991), cat. not numbered, illus. fig. 115.

Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries (28 January-22 April 2001), cat. not numbered, illus. plate 126, p. 349.

Bordeaux, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Made in USA: L'Art Américain, 1908-1947 (10 October-31 December 2001); traveled to Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts (18 January-31 March 2002); to Montpellier, Musée Fabre (12 April-23 June 2002), cat. not numbered, illus. p. 156.

Figge Arts Center, Davenport Museum of Art (9/17/2005 - 1/1/2006) and Tacoma Art Museum (1/29/2006 - 5/21/2006): "The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935"

John Marin in Retrospect. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (March 2-April 15, 1962); Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH (May 9-June 20, 1962).

Modern Art in America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (January 28-April 22, 2001).

Made in U.S.A., l'art américain, 1908-1943, entre nationalisme et internationalisme [FRAME]. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France (organizer) (October 5-December 31, 2001); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Rennes, France (January 17-March 31, 2002); Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (April 10-June 25, 2002).

The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935. Figge Arts Center, Davenport, Iowa (September 17, 2005-January 1, 2006); Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA (January 29-May 21, 2006).

Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Rocks and Sea: Small Point, Maine|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.361|author=John Marin|year=1931|access-date=08 June 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Rocks and Sea: Small Point, Maine

Rocks and Sea: Small Point, Maine

John Marin

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