While on one of his many sketching trips in the White Mountains, Marin wrote to Stieglitz: “If I could only carry these mountains home with me and set them all up in my back yard. No, I hope I can say this is my great big back yard.” The comments reveal the fondness that Marin felt for the White Mountain region, and his connection to mountain forms as a primary subject for his art. For Marin, mountain scenery was interchangeable with New York City subjects as the means to explore themes of representation and abstraction. Though titled White Mountain Country, the solitary peak shown here doesn’t actually exist in the Franconia Range, but it may be an abstraction of Mt. Lafayette or Mt. Madison. The bold, calligraphic stroke of blue enlivens the composition and dramatically draws attention to the majestic scene below.