MArtin 2

JOHN MARTIN (1789 - 1854)

The scenery of Allendale was a major influence on the extraordinary painter John Martin, born in Haydon Bridge. His great celestial landscape The Plains of Heaven, now in the Tate Gallery, is thought to be based on his native valley, while the celebrated The Bard in Newcastle's Laing Art Gallery, owes much to Staward Pele, stunningly positioned between the Allen on the west and Harsondale Cleugh on the east.

Martin attended the grammar school in Haydon Bridge until the family left for Newcastle when the artist was 14 years old. He studied art there for three years. After moving to London in 1806, Martin began to paint the grandiose scenes of biblical destruction which are regarded as typical of his style. He is sometimes mistakenly referred to as 'Mad Martin', possibly through confusion with his brother Jonathan, who set fire to York Minster, or, more probably, his brother William the 'poet and the philosophical conjuror' as he called himself. William used to walk the streets of Newcastle in a hat made out of a tortoise-shell, mounted in brass. A designer of ingenious devices, he considered that the Stephensons had stolen his ideas for the safety lamp and the High Level Bridge. It must be admitted that his poetry is at least on a par with that of William McGonagall. He spent his last years in his brother John's house in London.

John Martin achieved huge popularity: a print of his Belshazzar's Feast adorned the Brontes' parlour wall at Howarth. Charlotte and Branwell copied his prints, and their juvenile stories, set in Angria and Glasstown, show the influence of Martin's fantasy architecture and landscape. Martin himself appears as Edward de Lisle of Verdopolis, painter of Babylon. Interestingly, one of the chief characters in the Angria stories is Alexander Percy, Earl of Northangerland. We also recall that the heroine of Shirley has the surname Keeldar, an alternative spelling of Kielder, and so used by Sir Walter Scott in his journal for 7 October 1827. Martin was greatly admired by the writers of the day. Charles Lamb speaks of him with something approaching awe. Martin drew subjects from Byron and Mary Shelley, while The Bard is based on the poem by Thomas Gray. The Last Man, also in the Laing Art Gallery is after the poet Thomas Campbell. Martin illustrated Paradise Lost and his dramatic Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion (in Southampton Art Gallery) may have inspired a passage in Keats' Hyperion - and certainly Shelley wrote a poem about it. Meanwhile in France Victor Hugo employed imagery taken from Martin and French Romantic writers invented the word 'Martinien' to describe the grandiose and spectacular.

Martin was also active in proposing civil engineering projects in London and the Egyptian style of Brunel's Clifton suspension bridge owes something to the painter, as does his viaduct at Hanwell. In 1841, Brunel invited Martin to travel with him during rail speed tests from Southall to Slough, where the train is said to have reached 90 m.p.h.

Martin's vast popularity could hardly last. He was increasingly out of place in the age of Turner and Constable, neither of whom thought well of him. John Ruskin (q.v.) was also a severe critic. Nevertheless, a large painting by Martin can fetch a million pounds today, and his influence can still be seen in the architecture and special effects of Hollywood biblical extravaganzas.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
JOHN MARTIN (1789 - 1854) The scenery of Allendale was a major influence on the extraordinary painter John Martin, born in Haydon Bridge. His great celestial landscape The Plains of Heaven, now in the Tate Gallery, is thought to be based on his native valley, while the celebrated The Bard in Newcastle's Laing Art Gallery, owes much to Staward Pele, stunningly positioned between the Allen on the west and Harsondale Cleugh on the east. Martin attended the grammar school in Haydon Bridge until the family left for Newcastle when the artist was 14 years old. He studied art there for three years. After moving to London in 1806, Martin began to paint the grandiose scenes of biblical destruction which are regarded as typical of his style. He is sometimes mistakenly referred to as 'Mad Martin', possibly through confusion with his brother Jonathan, who set fire to York Minster, or, more probably, his brother William the 'poet and the philosophical conjuror' as he called himself. William used to walk the streets of Newcastle in a hat made out of a tortoise-shell, mounted in brass. A designer of ingenious devices, he considered that the Stephensons had stolen his ideas for the safety lamp and the High Level Bridge. It must be admitted that his poetry is at least on a par with that of William McGonagall. He spent his last years in his brother John's house in London. John Martin achieved huge popularity: a print of his Belshazzar's Feast adorned the Brontes' parlour wall at Howarth. Charlotte and Branwell copied his prints, and their juvenile stories, set in Angria and Glasstown, show the influence of Martin's fantasy architecture and landscape. Martin himself appears as Edward de Lisle of Verdopolis, painter of Babylon. Interestingly, one of the chief characters in the Angria stories is Alexander Percy, Earl of Northangerland. We also recall that the heroine of Shirley has the surname Keeldar, an alternative spelling of Kielder, and so used by Sir Walter Scott in his journal for 7 October 1827. Martin was greatly admired by the writers of the day. Charles Lamb speaks of him with something approaching awe. Martin drew subjects from Byron and Mary Shelley, while The Bard is based on the poem by Thomas Gray. The Last Man, also in the Laing Art Gallery is after the poet Thomas Campbell. Martin illustrated Paradise Lost and his dramatic Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion (in Southampton Art Gallery) may have inspired a passage in Keats' Hyperion - and certainly Shelley wrote a poem about it. Meanwhile in France Victor Hugo employed imagery taken from Martin and French Romantic writers invented the word 'Martinien' to describe the grandiose and spectacular. Martin was also active in proposing civil engineering projects in London and the Egyptian style of Brunel's Clifton suspension bridge owes something to the painter, as does his viaduct at Hanwell. In 1841, Brunel invited Martin to travel with him during rail speed tests from Southall to Slough, where the train is said to have reached 90 m.p.h. Martin's vast popularity could hardly last. He was increasingly out of place in the age of Turner and Constable, neither of whom thought well of him. John Ruskin (q.v.) was also a severe critic. Nevertheless, a large painting by Martin can fetch a million pounds today, and his influence can still be seen in the architecture and special effects of Hollywood biblical extravaganzas.
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