Weehawken, New Jersey

John Marin's Weehawken, New Jersey (1910) is a watercolor with opaque watercolor, rewetting and touches of blotting on lightweight off-white wove paper. This work focuses on the New Jersey shore, with its industrial and residential structures along the waterfront. Marin's treatment captures the particular character of Weehawken, a community perched on the cliffs above the Hudson River. The addition of opaque watercolor (gouache) gives certain passages greater solidity and weight. The rewetting and blotting techniques create varied textures. Marin's watercolors of the New Jersey shore are less well-known than his New York subjects but equally accomplished, capturing the industrial energy and the particular light of the Hudson River waterfront. This work from 1910 belongs to the most productive and innovative period of Marin's career, when he was producing the watercolors that would establish him as a leading figure in American modernism.

Marin's New Jersey waterfront scenes document the industrial landscape of the Hudson River, finding beauty in the docks, factories, and working harbor of the early 20th century.

This watercolor of Weehawken captures the industrial character of the New Jersey shore, the opaque watercolor and experimental techniques creating a vivid image of the waterfront at work.