Artists

Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin

French, 1860-1943

Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin was born in Toulouse, France in 1860. He studied art formally under Jules Garipuy at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse before moving to Paris in 1879 to work in the studio of Jean-Paul Laurens. His academic career was built around the annual Salon des Artistes Francais in Paris where he exhibited from 1880 onwards.

In the early years of his career Martin was awarded a scholarship which took him to Italy, where Martin discovered the beauty of color and light, both in nature and in the works of the great masters, such as Giotto and Masaccio. Inspired by what he saw he abandoned the academic style of his earlier works and adopted a style that utilized radically short brush strokes and divided the picture into a mass of small and visible strokes. In many ways this technique was reminiscent of the works of Georges Seurat.
Later on Martin was awarded a travel grant which took him to Italy and marked a turning point in his artistic style, moving away from early realism and historical subjects as he discovered the beauty of color and light, both in nature and in the works of the great masters, such as Giotto and Masaccio. On return to Paris, he began to experiment with the pointillist technique but instead using spontaneous short brush marks rather than dots, to build up the color and form. 

Although, Martin continued to paint religious and narrative works, compared to other Neo-Impressionists. His technique became well-known, using visible brushstrokes and a bold use of color to demonstrate the effect of light and gradually his paintings developed a distinct texture and became unusually large. His works started to receive great acclaim after exhibiting them in a solo show at the Mancini Gallery in 1895, and he received his first gold medal at the Salon in 1889, also later becoming a member of the Legion of Honour. Furthermore, he won the Grand Prize at the World Fair in 1900.