Thursday, June 30, 2011

John Martin

So, let's face it, the bible can be boring. For every action-packed  pillar of fire and brimstone episode, there's a couple hundred pages of what fabrics not to wear and whose dad was whose. Luckily for us, most of the cool stuff in the bible can be summed up in the works of Christian painter, John Martin. Martin lived during early 1800s, and was actively involved in the romanticism art movement, for all you Art 101 kids searching google images the night before your paper is due. It's okay, I won't tell anyone. Anyway, Martin's work is amazing in the depth and breadth of his landscapes, which are all pretty much apocalyptic. There are no sugary sweet fat Jesus babies being cradled by doe-eyed virgins in these works. Each piece shows the fiery wrath of God in full color, from mountains crashing down, exploding volcanoes, storms, floods, falling angels, you name it. And they are breath-taking. The thunderous crag-like clouds are ominous and foreboding, and you can really get the atmosphere he was going for. When they were made, the paintings were immensely popular, however, at the peak of his popularity, Martin gave up painting to pursue some other wacky enlightened endeavors, like redesigning the London sewage and water systems, railroads, and light houses. He was also considered sort of an odd-ball-- preferring to hiss during the national anthem, for instance. Though his paintings themselves are amazing, his body of work has continued as a major influence to numerous artists today, notably George Lucas, H.P. Lovecraft, and Derek Riggs, that guy that paints the covers for Iron Maiden.




















10 comments:

  1. I really like this blog entry... the "art 101 kids" comment really made me laugh! The way you write made Martin ten times more interesting to read about. :)

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  2. I saw that Tate are putting on an exhibition of Martin's work so thought I would check him out in Google. This collection of pictures came top of the list and convinced me that I had to see the originals. Many thanks.

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  3. I did the same as Rob. Great blog post. Images are stunning. What a painter John Martin was!

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  4. I will go and see an exhibition of this work in London's Tate Britain gallery.

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  5. Hi,

    Saw the exhibition yesterday,and was left in shock by the 'gigantesque' imagination of John Martin.However...after a while I became obsessed with the lightning that repeated itself in several of his paintings. I came to the conclusion that John Martin could paint pretty much everything,except...lightning! The landscapes are biblical,architecture of an 'unhuman vastness',sometimes it became..hmm..even a bit bombastic,the proportions did not always fit.On one painting the horsemen had bigger bodies than the warhorses they rode. And why are almost half the horses he depicted white? The Three Big Ones between 1845 and 1853 were breathtaking,Satan in council sublime,and I liked 'The last Man' in particular.

    Please,let there be no misunderstanding,I'd give my soul for another visit,but I a have traveled a few thousand miles and can therefore not go back.

    Thank you Egan...for making me see Hell and Heaven.

    isbn 978-1-85437-889-7

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  6. Hello people
    i saw the exebition a while ago and thought it was pretty good but I think he should range his pictures and do different things because they were all about heaven and hell and places being destroyed by lava and stuff

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  7. اعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم

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  8. always was moved by martin...... art establishment over looks, nonhumanatarian

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