John Martin

The painter, engraver, and illustrator John Martin was born on July 19th, 1789 in Northumberland. After an apprenticeship to a coach-painter in Newcastle, he trained under the Italian artist Boniface Musso. In 1808, Martin moved with Musso to London and began to submit his work to the Royal Academy. He first exhibited in 1811, receiving critical acclaim in 1812 for Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion. Martin, in turn, became known as an artist who could “edify and amaze.” His works explored the juxtaposition between “incandescence and void,” illuminating the tensions of the sublime.