John Marin grew up with his maternal grandparents in Weehawken, New Jersey. From his early years, Marin showed a great love for the outdoors that he later expressed in his art. As a young man Marin worked as a draftsman in several architectural firms before enrolling at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1899. The following year he won a prize for outdoor sketches of wild fowl and riverboats. Marin's professional career dates from around 1905 when he traveled to Europe, a journey then considered essential to the training of American artists with high aspirations.
Landscape remained Marin's primary interest throughout his life, and his name is often connected with the state of Maine, where, after 1914, he usually worked for part of the year. His paintings of Maine vary from woodland landscapes to misty views of picturesque towns to seascapes, which became an increasingly important motif over the years.
Despite his strong association with Maine, Marin's travels extended far beyond that state. He painted delicate landscapes during his early years in Europe, and also worked in New England and around Taos, New Mexico. New York City and the Hudson River Valley also inspired many of the artist's works. From the early 1930s, the circus captivated Marin's attention; he filled sketchbooks with abbreviated notations that stand for ringmasters, trapeze artists, lions, elephants, and the surrounding audience.
Marin's close ties with the photographer Alfred Stieglitz and those in his circle kept him in contact with the foremost modernist thinkers of the time. His acclaim during his long career surpassed that of any of his contemporaries, and he showed his works in solo exhibitions virtually every year from 1910 until his death in 1953.
Bonhams
May 31, 2014
Sotheby’s May 17 2012
WEEHAWKEN SEQUENCE no. 4
Estimate 30,000 — 50,000
Lot Sold 25,000
Estimate 8,000 — 12,000
Lot Sold 6,250
Estimate 6,000 — 9,000
Lot Sold 5,625
Swann 2007
Christie's 2015
Christie's 2002
More Christie's
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Skinner 2012
Swann 2007
- JOHN MARINUntitled (Figures Downtown, New York City)Estimate $4,000 - $6,000Price Realized (with Buyer's Premium) $6,960
Swann 2006
- JOHN MARINNassau StreetEstimate $5,000 - $8,000Price Realized (with Buyer's Premium) $6,210
Swann 2005
- JOHN MARINSea FantasyEstimate $2,000 - $3,000Price Realized (with Buyer's Premium) $5,980
- JOHN MARINThe Lobster FishermanEstimate $1,200 - $1,800Price Realized (with Buyer's Premium) $2,990
Swann 2003
JOHN MARIN
Untitled (New York Movement #1).
Estimate $4,000 - $6,000
Price Realized (with Buyer's Premium) $5,980Christie's 2015
Christie's 2013
Brooklyn Bridge and City Skyline: A Double-Sided Work
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
DOCKS, BOAT, AND CITY SKYLINE
Estimate $40,000 - $60,000 Price Realized $40,000
Maine Sea with Island
PRICE REALIZED
$665,000
Christie's 2012
Christie's 2009
Christie's 2008
Christie's 2007
Christie's 2006
Christie's 2005
Christie's 2000
More Christie's
Seascape, Maine
PRICE REALIZED
$293,000
Side Slope of Taos Range, New Mexico
PRICE REALIZED
$161,000
New Mexico Landscape
PRICE REALIZED
$99,750
Small Point, Maine
PRICE REALIZED
$79,000
Lake Champlain No 2
PRICE REALIZED
Sunset Rockland County
PRICE REALIZED
$68,500
Small Point, Maine
PRICE REALIZED
$68,500
New York Stock Exchange
PRICE REALIZED
$68,500
Weehawken Sequence
PRICE REALIZED
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
HILLS
Price Realized $27,500
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
THE CIRCUS
Price Realized $6,672
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
PERTAINING TO THE SEA, CAPE SPLIT, MAINE
Estimate $25,000 - $35,000 Price Realized $35,000
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
SEA AND SAIL, CAPE SPLIT, MAINE
Estimate $30,000 - $50,000 Price Realized $45,600
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
BUILDINGS, DOWNTOWN NEW YORK
Estimate $200,000 - $300,000 Price Realized $312,000
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
CIRCUS CLOWN
Estimate $40,000 - $60,000 Price Realized $66,000
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
VERMONT COUNTRY, AUTUMN
Estimate $15,000 - $25,000 Price Realized $57,600
JOHN MARIN (1872-1953)
DOWNTOWN, THE EL (ZIGROSSER 134)
Estimate $2,000 - $3,000 Price Realized 2,000
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
NEAR CLOSTER, NEW JERSEY
Estimate $20,000 - $30,000 Price Realized $43,750
JOHN MARIN (AMERICAN, 1870-1953)
CITYSCAPE
Estimate $4,000 - $6,000 Price Realized $10,800
JOHN MARIN (1870-1953)
CASTORLAND LANDSCAPE
Estimate $15,000 - $25,000 Price Realized $27,400
Skinner 2013
Skinner 2013
John Marin (American, 1870-1953)
Hilltop, Autumn, Maine
- Sold for: $54,000
Skinner 2012
John Marin (American, 1870-1953)
Mt. Washington
- Sold for:
- $36,750
- Skinner 2009
John Marin (American, 1872-1953)
Ponte Ghetto, Venezia
- Sold for:
- $1,541
- Skinner 2005
John Marin (American, 1870-1953)
St. John, New Brunswick
- Sold for:
- $15,275
- John Marin (1870–1953)
Lake Champlain No. 2, 1931
Watercolor and pencil on paper
16½ x 19 15/16 inches
Signed and dated lower right: Marin 31
- John Marin (1870–1953)
New York Series: From Weehawken Heights, 1950
Oil on canvas
22 1/16 x 28⅛ inches
Signed and dated lower right: Marin 50; inscribed on verso: 28 x 22 / WEEHAWKEN -
- John Marin (1870–1953)
Apple Blossoms, Saddle River, New Jersey, 1952
Oil on canvas
22⅛ x 28 1/16 inches
Signed and dated lower right: Marin / 52.
- John Marin (1870–1953)
