John Marin
American, 1870-1953
Circus Elephants
INV-6610
John Marin
American, 1870-19531941
Circus Elephants
John Marin American, 1870-1953 →watercolordrawings (visual works)
Date
1941
Medium
Watercolor with scraping and wiping, and with opaque watercolor, graphite and black crayon, on medium-weight, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions
48.9 × 63 cm (19 5/16 × 24 13/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection and Robert A. Waller Fund
Among Marin’s favorite subjects in the 1930s and 1940s was the circus, a theme he worked on both in the city and at Cape Split. An avid circus visitor, he enjoyed the spectacle and sketching the animals. Marin loved the elephants most, responding to the dignity and grandeur of their movements. He began this watercolor by drawing the creatures and their surroundings with graphite and crayon. He then painted the forms with transparent watercolor, returning to add black crayon for the deepest lines. Painted, drawn, and subtracted diagonal marks conjure the effect of spotlights. The soft effect of wiping also contributes to the overall impression of dust hanging in the illuminated air, enhancing the artist’s evocation of heat, smells, and sounds.
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