Ever since Thomas Cole went to Maine to paint in 1844—followed by Thomas Doughty, Frederick Edwin Church, and later Winslow Homer—artists have been drawn to the sublime beauty of the state’s mountains and rocky coast as well as its special quality of light. John Marin and William Zorach number among the 20th-century artists who have followed in their footsteps. Marin and Zorach often elected to use watercolor when rendering Maine’s distinctive terrain and atmosphere; the portability of watercolor paints made it possible to easily record the vibrant colors of a scene while painting outdoors. While Marin’s compositions tended toward the abstract as he explored the effects of the pounding sea on the coastline, Zorach was intrigued by the new cantilever truss bridge being constructed over the Sasanoa River just across the Kennebec River from the town of Bath.