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Meredith Ward Fine Art

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Bold strokes and fainter smudges of black, blue, red, brown, and white dance across a white ground in this painting to suggest an abstracted seascape. A long, horizontal black line three-quarters of the way up the canvas suggests the horizon line. An arched line above seems supported by diagonal lines at the left and right edge, to suggest the span of an arched bridge in the distance. Blue squiggles are mostly contained within the center of the composition to suggest water while brown lines and red marks fill the lower corners, perhaps alluding to a beach or shoreline. The artist signed the work with black letters and the date in the lower right corner: “Marin 52.” The frame has been painted white in the corners and tan on each side, with darker brown lines separating the alternating bands of white and light brown.
John Marin, The Written Sea, 1952, oil on canvas, Gift of Deborah and Ed Shein, 2009.12.1

The Written Sea

John Marin · 1952 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2009.12.1