Deer Isle, Maine, probably Movement No. 12—Boats and Pertaining Thereto

In the summer of 1927, Marin commenced a large series of Deer Isle watercolors. Like others in the series, this angular composition features rectilinear subdivisions of forms. A rooflike border at the top unifies the moody sky and harbor. To preserve a sense of lively crispness, the artist used black colored pencil for the preliminary sketch and moderated his use of overlapping painted and drawn lines. He also allowed this sheet to remain more literal and descriptive than other watercolors in the series. Marin may have worn himself out—or exhausted his subject—with this Deer Isle project. He stayed in Stonington for the last time the following year and then spent two summers away from the sea, working near Taos, New Mexico.