John Martin: Georgian Britain’s Most Epic Artist
The man who dared to ask — ‘what if God no longer had faith in us?’
Once one of the most popular painters of his day, John Martin is not a name most people would recognise today. But Martin’s star shone brightly in his own time and his work is perhaps more relevant today than ever before. For me, he is one of the few artists to truly capture what it means to be mortal in a seemingly immortal universe. In doing so, he makes mam small and puts us into perspective.
Martin paints what we today might call Cosmicism, but what he would have called ‘apocalyptic scenes’. They are violent, confronting, and stark. A testament to what will be when we no longer make this world our home.
Life
Martin came from a relatively humble background in the North of England. He spent time as an apprentice coach painter and then studied under Boniface Musso, a respected painter of his day.
Martin went onto support himself and his young family through his artistic talents, giving drawing lessons and painting glass and china. The rugged landscape in which he (and I…
