Notre Dame, Paris

Artist John Marin (American, 1870 - 1953)

Date1909

MediumWatercolor on wove paper

Dimensions17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm)
Sheet Dimension: 17 x 14

ClassificationsWatercolor

Credit LineGift of the Estate of Stephen B. Lawrence

Terms

Object number1950.24

DescriptionWhile some scholars argue that many of Marin's early watercolors which he created in Paris do not directly show the influence of his European contemporaries, it can be argued that "Notre Dame, Paris" alludes to his later assimilation and adaptation of European modernist techniques found in Orphism, Fauvism, and Futurism. "Notre Dame, Paris" depicts the early Gothic cathedral (constructed from 1163-1285) in all of its glory and grandeur as it dominates the Île-de-la-Cité and the single figure in the foreground. Marin's choice of this subject undoubtedly reflects his avid interest in medieval monuments and his earlier training as an architect. A formative work, "Notre Dame, Paris" blends Impressionist methods of applying delicate, decorative patches of vibrant color to the surface with a late 19th-century Whistlerian, nostalgic sensibility. Once in Paris, Marin, like his American contemporaries, fell under the influence of Whistler's etchings, pastels, oil paintings, and watercolors and emulated his similar concentration on quaint street scenes of daily life. "Notre Dame, Paris" embodies a light, airy spirit and its bright purples and blues imbue the Parisian scene with an incredible liveliness and energy which look forward to Marin's later watercolors of New York City of the 1910s and 1920s.

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