In search of the Marinesque

It is summer and for our family that means some time in our Maine cottage. The first thing I see when I open my eyes each morning there is a beautiful watercolor print from John Marin’s Deer Isle series. It speaks to me in so many ways, but is particularly striking because of its perspective. My eyes are always drawn to the sea first, then moving upwards to the island and sky. The artist, John Marin [1870 – 1953] painted the rugged Maine coastline in his own unique style. Known as an abstract modernist painter of landscapes he spent much of his adult life fleeing modernity. Beginning from about 1914, he used to spend a part of his year on the Maine coast until his death in 1953. He first started near Bath and then moved further down east to the small fishing village of Stonington where he spent his summers for over a decade. This is where he painted the Deer Isle series that we so love. He retreated further eastwards in 1930 because he felt that the Deer Isle-Stonington area was becoming too modern – cars, telephones, tourists! He ended up in Addison and began painting in oils.

Marin happens to be my absolute favorite American painter. I am continually surprised that the State of Maine does not have a museum or wing dedicated to his works. At the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, one can delight in the works of the artistic Wyeth’s but very little Marin. I’m digressing. The point I wanted to make was that each summer when we are in Maine, we seek out a different area to explore. This year we decided on the Deer Isle – Stonington area because we wanted to see the environment where Marin lived and worked. I did not expect to walk on the street where he lived but the owner of the Inn where we stayed mentioned that he lived five minutes away in one of the small houses on Allen Street! We did not know which house but the general area was good enough for me. We had been planning to go for a walk with an old friend Janet Mills, but it was too foggy that morning so we explored the streets of Stonington, finding our way to Allen Street, even knocking on a door to ask if the current owner knew if Marin lived there! No luck of course. But it was serendipitous perhaps that in all that fog, an artist was set up on the rocks across from us painting the scene in front of her.

I’ve been told that the good people of Stonington do not believe in signs or plaques to mark a spot where an important personage may have lived. They like their little fishing village to be quiet and they want to be left alone. Even cell phone service is spotty in this place. There are a few places where reception is good but few people know exactly where and it’s not something we’re likely to find out from any islander. The place is charming. Lobster is big here and Stonington accounts for a third of the Maine catch. The air is so fresh you have to take deep breadths to relish it. There are also many lovely walks in the area. Our favorite was the Edgar Tennis Preserve where you can meander through the woods and rocky coast.