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During his lifetime, American modernist John Marin (1870鈥�1953) was the country鈥檚 most celebrated artist. His improvisational approach to color, paint handling, perspective, and movement situated him as a leading figure in modern art and helped influence the Abstract Expressionist movement. This exhibition is the first to present the Art Institute of Chicago鈥檚 impressive collection of Marin鈥檚 work in its entirety, ranging from early images rooted in traditional practice to more personal and experimental compositions. 

While Marin worked prolifically in watercolor, etching, and oil during a career that spanned more than 50 years, it was the medium of watercolor that encouraged his development of a bold, original style that is both contemporary and authentically American. John Marin鈥檚 Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism explores the artist鈥檚 working method, his modernist vision as it developed through etching and into watercolor, and his intuitive investigation of the inherent properties of the medium to craft a new avant-garde methodology. Examining the tension between representation and abstraction, Marin conjured in line and color his visceral reactions to his favorite subjects. The 120 works in the exhibition, which include loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art and the collection of Edward McCormick Blair, are organized chronologically and grouped according to the sites where they were painted, including New York City, France and the Tyrol, the Maine coastline, and the New Mexico desert. 

The exhibition and accompanying catalogue also illuminate how Marin, who had a strong interest in the presentation of his watercolors, chose frames and mounts for each work. Legendary photographer, dealer, and collector Alfred Stieglitz bequeathed a significant number of Marin鈥檚 frames and mounts, along with some 40 watercolors, to the Art Institute. These frames have been researched, conserved, and in some cases also replicated for the exhibition, where each work will be presented in a frame of the artist鈥檚 own design. The catalogue鈥檚 authors also examine Marin and Stieglitz鈥檚 strategies for the presentation and display of modern American art, highlighting their championing of works on paper.

The exhibition has been undertaken as a sequel to the Art Institute鈥檚 2008 exhibition Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light and will travel to the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, from June 28 through September 11, 2011.