Brooklyn Bridge, on the Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge, on the Bridge is one of many images that John Marin made over the course of a dozen years of the great span that connects Manhattan Island with the neighboring borough to the east. The bridge is recognizable from its “signature” at the center of the composition: the ponderous granite pier with its double Gothic arched voids. The curving form to the right suggests the graceful arches of traditional masonry bridges, such as those Marin encountered in Paris during his student years almost a quarter of a century earlier. The Brooklyn Bridge, a suspension bridge, boasts no such arches, but they may form part of the pedestrian approach to the bridge, as indicated by steps and three shadowy figures at lower center. Scattered throughout the painting, a series of grouped straight or zigzag lines evokes parallel cables, iron railings, or river waves—complemented, as in other Marin images, by a radiant sun. All elements of the scene—bridge, water, sun, sky—shiver with nervous energy; their component lines and planes, detached and disassociated as if both by the violence of the city environment and by Marin’s rapid, explosive creative process, assume a seemingly random arrangement across the surface of the paper.

From the beginning of his career as an artist, Marin was drawn to urban architecture. Indeed, the two mirror-image profiles of classical moldings sketched in at the lower right corner of this work recall his early training and practice as an architect. New York City—its buildings as well as its frenetic pace and high energy—quickly became Marin’s hallmark theme and perhaps the primary vehicle for his development of an individual modernist approach. One of his favorite subjects, the Brooklyn Bridge was widely celebrated as a symbol of modernity and inspired many artistic interpretations. In addition to Brooklyn Bridge, on the Bridge, the Terra Foundation’s collection includes such examples as Marin’s etching Brooklyn Bridge, No. 6 (TF 1995.15), Brooklyn Bridge (TF 1992.43) by Ernest Lawson, and Arnold Ronnebeck’s Brooklyn Bridge (TF 1996.55).

Deeply rooted in the American tradition of art that celebrates nature, Marin insisted that his paintings depicted actualities, not abstractions. But he was also influenced by new movements that questioned the very notion of art as a language of representation. Brooklyn Bridge, on the Bridge belongs to a period in Marin’s career during which he worked on the boundary of abstraction. Fragmenting forms almost beyond recognition, he focused in this work on formal arrangements of line, plane, color, and shape with a new sense of geometric structure. Marin saw his painted compositions of the late 1920s and early 1930s as discrete wholes, which he “framed” in outlines or, as here, in a border of untouched paper.

Brooklyn Bridge—75th Anniversary Exhibition, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: The Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York, April 29–July 27, 1958. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Private Collection of Norma and John Marin Jr., Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey (organizer). Venue: Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, December 14, 1958–January 4, 1959.

John Marin: The Etchings and Related Oils, Drawings and Watercolors, Cape Split Place, Inc., Addison, Maine (organizer). Venue: Cape Split Place, Inc., Addison, Maine, August 1–October 1, 1980.

Five American Masters of Watercolor, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, May 5–July 12, 1981. [exh. cat.]

John Marin's New York, Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York, October 13–November 6, 1981. [exh. cat.]

American Masters of the Twentieth Century, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (organizer). Venues: Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, May 7–June 20, 1982; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, July 11–September 15, 1982. [exh. cat.]

The Great East River Bridge, 1883–1983, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York (organizer). Venue: The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, March 19–September 5, 1983. [exh. cat.]

Masterworks in American Art from the Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, April 27–September 12, 1985.

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 1990.

Selections and Transformations: The Art of John Marin, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (organizer). Venue: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., January 28–April 15, 1990. [exh. cat.]

The Modernist Tradition in American Watercolors: 1911–1939, Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, April 5–June 22, 1991. [exh. cat.]

Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1996–January 12, 1997.

Selected Works from the Collections: Two Hundred Years of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.

Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999. [exh. cat.]

L'Amérique et les modernes, 1900–1950 (American Moderns, 1900–1950), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 25–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 2003.

John Marin's Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, January 22–April 17, 2011; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, June 18–September 11, 2011. [exh. cat.]

Reich, Sheldon. John Marin: A Stylistic Analysis and Catalogue Raisonné. 2 vols. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1970. Ill. no. 30.51, p. 626 (black & white).

Baur, John I. H. John Marin's New York. (exh. cat., Kennedy Galleries). New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1981. Text p. 3 of introduction; fig. 36 (color).

Five American Masters of Watercolor. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Evanston, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1981. Ill. p. 22 (color).

Baur, John I. H. and Ann Wiegart. American Masters of the Twentieth Century. (exh. cat., Oklahoma Art Center). Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: The Center, 1982. Text p. 74; ill. p. 31 (color).

Kirshner, Judith Russi. "The Terra Collection." United: The Magazine of the Friendly Skies (December 1982): 52–9. Ill. p. 52 (color).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-149, p. 258 (color).

Brooklyn Bridge, On the Bridge, John Marin. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 1990. Ill. (black & white).

Fine, Ruth E. John Marin. (exh. cat., National Gallery of Art). New York: Abbeville Press, Publishers, 1990. Text p. 131; pl. 122, p. 134 (color).

Kushner, Marilyn. The Modernist Tradition in American Watercolors, 1911–1939. Evanston, Illinois: Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, 1991. Text p. 36 (checklist); ill. p. 70 (color).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text pp. 103–104; fig. 104, p. 104 (black & white).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text pp. 103–104; fig. 104, p. 104 (black & white).

Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association 267:21 (June 3, 1992): 2850. Text p. 2850; ill. cover (color).

The Journal of the American Medical Association Pakistan 5:3 (May 1993): cover. Ill. cover (color).

Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association Middle East (February 1994): 15. Text p. 15; ill. cover (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 25 (checklist); fig. 8, p. 15 (black & white).

Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 25 (checklist); fig. 8, p. 15 (black & white).

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. American Moderns, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Pl. 23, p. 51 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. L'Amérique et les modernes, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Pl. 23, p. 51 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 178, 201; ill. pp. 179 (color), 201 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 178, 201; ill. pp. 179 (color), 201 (black & white).

Tedeschi, Martha with Kristi Dahm. John Marin's Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism. (exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois). Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago and New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010. Text, pp. 22, 42, 126, 127; ill. pl. 54, p. 128 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text p. 268; ill. p. 268 (color).