Schoelkopf Gallery is the exclusive worldwide representative of the John Marin Foundation.

The present watercolor retains its original artist hand-painted frame.

Ruth Fine, in an unpublished essay from 2004, wrote of the present work:

"A distinctive aspect of Marin's art is his emphasis on the outer edges of his compositions. His use of framing devices may be traced back to the consciously inked platemarks surrounding the images in several of his European etchings from the first decade of the century, and in some of his watercolors during the teens. Starting in the early 1920s, however, his attention to this aspect of Marins art took on greater importance. "Movement Autumn" is particularly daring, with most of the activity taking place around the outer perimeter of the sheet. Lines vis­ible as an underlayer within the essential green center suggest that this area had been more definitively marked by a complex of forms at an earlier point in the evolution of the work, but that Marin had overpainted them and focused attention on the perimeter of the composition. There, brilliant reds, yellow-oranges, and pinks contrast the changing fall foliage with the several kinds of evergreens; and Marin's rich variety of shapes and forms indicate the landscapes' immense diversity as grasped by his highly discerning eye. In addition, Marin has care­fully maintained a sense of the white watercolor sheet which itself encloses the image on all four sides; and he has created horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines at the four corners of the sheet that also act to contain the central arena.

"The year "Movement Autumn" was painted, 1923, was one in which Marin placed particular emphasis on exploring painted mounts and frames for watercolors. The paper on which this landscape is painted is mounted to a second sheet on which Marin painted multiple color bands. A deep blue e from below the landscape, with red and pink strokes as well as a soft gray surrounding the blue, all of which enhances the framing effect established in the watercolor composition itself. Marin additionally modified the frame he placed on this piece by layering blue paint onto the reddish-brown wood as well, thus making this a particularly fine example of his diverse and distinctive framing strategies at this important moment in the artist's career."

Ruth E. Fine
Curator of Special Projects in Modern Art National Gallery of Art, Washington November 2004

In her 1990 book on Marin, Fine described the year of this work’s genesis:

"The year 1923 seems crucial. Painted mounts of various sorts date from that year, and a few watercolors still in their original frames have moldings painted by Marin, which he sued to extend to the outermost limits the activity generated by the painted mount; see, for example, two 1923 autumn scenes, Movement Autumn and Autumn” (Fine, p. 201).