Martin’s grand apocalyptic vision has inspired movie makers and rock ‘n’ rollers for decades. This is the first exhibition of his work for 30 years.
Martin had a lot of bad luck. His father, mother, grandmother and young son all died in a single year. One of his paintings, accepted and hung in the Royal Academy, was destroyed when a careless worker spilled a pot of dark varnish all over it. His painting “Belshazzar’s Feast” was nearly ruined when the carriage transporting it was struck by a train.
The exhibit will continue until September 4 and then move on to the Tate in London.
READ MORE ABOUT IT
Museums of Sheffield John Martin exhibition
Wikipedia on John Martin
Book: John Martin: Apocalypse Now!
John Martin (with lots more links) at Lines and Colors
Guess he didn't have a good hope for the future.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Bierstadt and Church were familiar with Martin's work? There seems to be echoes of Martin in some of their work.
ReplyDeleteIs the top one "The Crossing of the Red Sea"?
ReplyDeletePowerful stuff! Thanks for sharing, Jim.
ReplyDeleteWill be visiting for sure- it's just up the road!
ReplyDeleteI recently picked up your Color and Light book and I was absolutely amazed by how concise and informative it is. I just wanted to stop by here and thank you for sharing your knowledge with all of us. Looking forward to reading Imaginative Realism when it arrives next week.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the couple you posted, I was wondering if he'd been associated with Thomas Cole somehow. I read the Wikipedia article and it mentioned their link. One of my favorite Cole pieces (http://www.darkstormcreative.com/?p=19) is actually a bit unlike his other works, but now seeing the link with Martin that makes perfect sense. Thanks for posting about Martin, another great artist I need to look into.
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