biography of Homer Dodge MARTIN (1836-1897)

Birth place: Albany, NY

Death place: St. Paul, MN

Addresses: NYC, 1862-93; St. Paul, MN, 1893-on

Profession: Landscape painter

Studied: James MacDougal Hart, Albany, for 2 weeks (this was his only formal training), prior to 1862

Exhibited: NAD, 1861-80, 1887-94; Brooklyn AA, 1863-69, 1877, 1884, 1892; PAFA Ann., 1863, 1879-81, 1885; Boston AC, 1884-85; World's Columbian Expo., Chicago, 1893; AIC.

Member: NA, 1874; SAA

Work: MMA; CGA; NGA; NMAA; CMA; Century Assoc.; Shelburne (VT) Mus.; Cleveland Mus. A

Comments: Martin grew up in Albany, working as a carpenter and architect before turning to painting in 1852 under encouragement from the sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer. In 1862, Martin moved to NYC and lived there for the next thirty years with the exception of several trips to Europe. In 1876, he was in England and France; and from 1881-86 he was at Honfleur and Villerville, France, returning there in 1892. While his early work was shaped by the Hudson River School, his subsequent work reflects his response to these travels abroad. Two factors exerted a strong influence on his landscapes: his friendship with Whistler (whom he first met in London in 1876) and his contact with the French Barbizon painters (particularly Corot) on an extended 1881-86 stay in Normandy. Thereafter, his works show a looser handling of paint, a softer, more muted palette, and blurring of details, all resulting in more intimate Tonalist views, such as his "Mussel Gatherers at Villerville, Normandy" (Corcoran), and "Wild Coast, Newport" (NMAA). In 1893, Martin and his wife moved to St. Paul, MN, where, despite his apparently chronic depression, poor health, and growing blindness, he continued to develop in his late landscapes an expressive Impressionist style ("The Harp of the Winds," 1895, MMA).

Sources: G&W; Frank J. Mather, Homer Martin, Poet in Landscape; Mrs. William H. Martin; Homer Martin: A Reminiscence; Dana H. Carroll Fifty-eight Paintings by Homer D. Martin; Hamilton, Homer Martin as Illustrator"; Cowdrey, NAD; Albany CD 1858-60+. More recently, see Baigell, Dictionary; Campbell, New Hampshire Scenery, 114-115; Muller, Paintings and Drawings at the Shelburne Museum, 92 (w/repro.); Rbt. Workman, The Eden of America (RISD, 1986, p.68); Falk, Exh. Record Series. "