759*192 M33n 52-36345 759.192 M33n 52-36345 SScted writings of Mar in. $7.50 Keep Your Card in This Pocket Books will be issued only on presentation of proper library cards. Unless labeled otherwise, books may be retained for two weeks. Borrowers finding books marked, de- at faced or mutilated are expected to report same library desk; otherwise the last borrower will be held responsible for all imperfections discovered. The oard holder is responsible for all books drawn on tiiis card. Penalty for over-due books 2c a day plus cost of notices. Lost cards and change of residence must be re ported promptly. Public Library Kansas City, Mo. TENSION ENVELOPE CORP. 'i AUG4'.". (' WO 1 1AM The Selected Writings of JOHN MARIN John Marin: 1920. Photograph by Alfred Stieghtz The Selected Writings of Edited with an Introduction by DOROTHY NORMAN York PELLEGRINI 8c CUDAHY: New ACKNOWLEDGMENTS their thanks to the The editor and publisher express following: in the of this volume John Marin for his cooperation preparation letters and occasional writ and for extending permission to use his the edition of LETTERS OF MARIN Ameri ings from 1931 JOHN (An as his later Herbert can Place, N. Y.) as well writings; J. Seligmann include in this volume the LETTERS OF MARIN for permission to JOHN edited Marin's letters to and his (1931 edition) as by him, him, Marin and O'Keeffe in behalf of the portraits of Stieglitz; Georgia for to include Marin's letters to Alfred Stieglitz Estate permission as those written to and Stieglitz (as well jointly Stieglitz herself) of Paul Strand for to and Stieglitz's portraits Marin; permission include Marin's letters to him and his portrait of Marin; James Davis, Dr. Robert Freund, Ernest Haskell, Jr., Louis Kalonyme, Duncan and Joseph Lustberg, John Marin, Jr., Marjorie Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. William Thompson, Harry and Leo Wass, and Emil C. Zoler for permission to include Marin's letters to them; Creative Press Doran & Co. The Downtown Age (N. Y.) , Doubleday, (N. Y.) , Institute of Art The Gallery (N. Y.) , The Contemporary (Boston) , Palisadian N. & , (Cliffside Park, J.) , Pellegrini Cudahy (N. Y.) Princeton University Press and Twice a Year Press (N. Y.) for per mission to reprint writings by Marin previously appearing in their publications; Ansel Adams, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Collier and Institute of Art McCann, The Contemporary (Boston) , Ma dame Gaston Lachaise, the Museum of Modern Art (N. Y.) and Homer St, Gaudens for further photographic permissions. Copyright 194$ by John M.arin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any without form permission in writing, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or news Published paper. simultaneously in Canada by George J. McLeod, Ltd., Toronto, Manufactured in the United States of America. INTRODUCTION by Dorothy Norman That John Marin should be widely acclaimed as one o America's foremost painters is scarcely surprising. With the publication of this volume it is to be hoped that his writings as well may come into their own. For Marin, happily, is one of those rare painter-poets whose pictures and writings alike are to be treasured; whose paintingsin the words of Simonides might justly be called "silent poetry"; his writing, "speaking painting." In fact, precisely because he is so fine an artist, both as painter and writer, this book may well serve a double purpose: in addition to being enjoyed for their own sake, Marin' s writ ings should help to provide many an important clue to Marin the painter clues that should aid greatly to dispel some of the manifold misconceptions that have been held about his pictures over the years. That Marin has long been aware of the existence of such misconceptions, both with respect to his own work, and to that of most other creative artists, is evidenced in even his early writ ings: by 1928 he was already impatient with "the platitudes of those who write upon things about which they sense mighty little. ." "The worker," he noted at the time, "is one rather given to observing, thinking and doing. It's not easy for him to talk about and explain his work, but as he and his work have been placed in false position many times, I suppose that he owes 1 it to himself and his world to say something." In one sense, therefore, publication of this book may even be looked upon as an act of cooperation with the artist; as the offering to him of an opportunity to be heard in his own right about his own life and work and in as comprehensive a manner as possible. For after all who should know better the exact nature of his preoccupations and intent than the artist himself? i "John Marin, by Himself/' 1928. But then, once having read Harm's writings and looked at best him? his paintings, how might one characterize There can be no question but that in his every gesture he is a man filled with wonder before nature; a man highly respect ful of the laws of nature and the disciplines of one's chosen craft, whatever that craft may be. Equally evident is his rejection of all that is pretentious, academic or intellectualized whether with respect to art or to life itself. "Art," he has written, "is produced by the wedding of man and material. When man loves material and will not under any circumstances . destroy its own inherent beauty, then and 2 then only can that wonderful thing we call art be created." "Seems to me," he has stated, "the true artist must perforce go from time to time to the elemental big forms Sky, Sea, Mountain, Plain and those things pertaining thereto, to sort of re-true himself up, to recharge the battery. For these big forms have everything. But to express these, you have to love these, to be a part of these in sympathy. One doesn't get very far without " this love 3 With respect to nature's basic laws, Marin has strict and definite views: "Go look at the bird's flight," he advises, "the man's walk, the sea's movement. They have a way to keep their motion. Nature's laws of motion have to be obeyed and you 4 have to follow along. ," "The good picture," he asserts, also must embrace "these laws." So that when finished ". it will be an object" with "boundaries as definite as that the prow, the stern, the sides and bottom bound a boat." Basic laws, according to Marin, are to be respected under any and all circumstances. But let anyone so much as mention to him such terms as "abstract, concrete, third or fourth dimen sion. ." He retorts with a "bah." "Don't bother us," he ex claims . "the worker, the seer, is apt to damn all terms applied by the discussionists." 2 Letter to Stieglitz, Addison, Maine, August 31, 1940. 3 "John Marin, by Himself," op. cit. *"A Few Twice a No. Notes," Hear, 2 (Spring-Summer, 1939) . vi "There's the way of the Academician, but that's no way. The is 5 Way something elseis quite wonderful. ." "Don't 5 everlastingly read messages into paintings," he warns. "There's the Daisy you don't rave or read messages into it You just look at that bully little flower isn't that enough I"7 Marin's dismay before all that is ponderous and self-impor all that is not tant, born of spontaneity and delight, is expressed and freely frequently. ("Don't try to be great/' he implores. "Don't to be 8 Such try important." ) concern, however, is by no means to be misconstrued as frivolous. For Marin knows quite clearly that the true artist "is to be found in his work shop there seek him." But: "Expect him not to play the game social or of self advertisement it would appear in his work and the sensitive ones will have none of it." of The voice Marin the poet, now shyly reverent, now deeply thoughtful, now mockingly humorous, speaks sensitively and searchingly from every page: "It's the artist speaking," he proclaims, "so that to the artist it's the of the way telling always that concerns him: the painter his way, the sculptor his. The material used the way used of 9 a verity that's the story." "No wonder/' he states, "that we write, have written and will write and speak, for is not a work of art the most tantalizing here there where yes and no sort of thing on Earth the most vital, yet to all a mystery to not too many a mysteri ous it reality cannot be understood, it can be felt. ." To Marin, then, the work of the artist is that ever-sacred object "to be looked at with a looking eye with a looking eye of many lookings to see as it slowly reveals itself the process of the revealing to such giving infinite pleasure, this individual the artist the releasing different folds of his seeings at periods of 5 Letter to Dr. Robert Freund, June 28, 1948. 6 The Palisadian, Cliffside Park, N. J., November 15, 1940. Guest editorial. 7 Marin has changed the original text here from "isn't it enough." 8 "A Few Notes/' op. at. 9 "A Catalogue, Retrospective Exhibition/' 1947, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, January, 1947. vii 10 . ." is his and his many livings. Which how own writings paintings are to be looked upon.