Etching and drypoint on cream laid paper, 1913. 170x220 mm; 6 3/4x8 1/2 inches, full margins. Second state (of 2). Edition of only approximately 25. Signed and annotated in pencil, lower right. Printed by the artist, New York. Published by Alfred Steiglitz, Gallery 291, New York. A superb impression of this extremely scarce etching.
Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was a gallery owner and photographer who founded the famed Gallery 291, a pioneering New York institution that exhibited early 20th Century European art before it gained popularity in America. Stieglitz not only focused on the European avant-garde, but also fostered and propelled the careers of important American Modernists.
Marin (1870-1953), who became renowned for his abstract watercolors of both landscapes and cityscapes (particularly New York), was closely associated with Stieglitz. Their rapport began when Marin met Stieglitz's Parisian-based agent, Edward Steichen, in 1908, while Marin was based in Paris; the meeting lead to a visit to Marin's Parisian apartment from Stieglitz himself. Stieglitz was extremely impressed and subsequently held an exhibition for the artist at 291 the following year. On Marin's return to America in 1911, Stieglitz supplied him with a yearly stipend to support and encourage his artistic output and continued to exhibit his work prominently--an arrangement that undoubtedly pushed Marin to pursue art to a greater degree than he would have on his own. After 291 closed, in 1917, Stieglitz continued to promote Marin's work and facilitated his recognition as a forerunner of American Modernism.
Marin's abstractions of various buildings and structures of New York City capture the awe that Marin felt among the city's groundbreaking modern architecture. The Brooklyn Bridge (completed in 1883) was an icon of modern architecture and engineering, the longest suspension bridge (and the first constructed of steel-wire) ever built, and a sublime symbol of change as well as the optimism of new technology. Marin explored and repeatedly returned to imagery of the Brooklyn Bridge, abstracting and manipulating it to capture the energy, anxiety and excitement of the city. Zigrosser 106.
