HENRI MARTIN PAINTINGS FOR SALE & BIOGRAPHY

HENRI MARTIN

French, 1860–1943

BIOGRAPHY
“Henri Jean Guillaume Martin moved to Paris at a very early age and, thanks to a scholarship from his hometown, entered the studio of Jean Paul Laurens (1838–1921) in 1879. He achieved his first success at the age of 23 with his painting Françoise de Rimini in 1883, which won a first-class medal. In 1885 Titans Scaling the Sky won him a travel scholarship to Italy. In 1896 he was made Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur as a result of his decorative work at the town hall, and won Grand Prix at the 1900 Exposition Universelle. He won a gold medal at the Salon in Paris for Festival of the Federation, which was exhibited in 1889. He was made Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur in 1914, and a member of the Institute in 1918.

“His trip to Italy had a decisive and positive influence on his style. Until then his works had been impeccably correct in their rather cold Classicism, but the brilliant light of the Italian skies, possibly also the style of the early Transalpine School, the study of the figures of Giotto and the early Primitives awoke in him intense poetic sentiments which he translated using a very particular style. He used short separate and parallel brushstrokes, giving his allegorical canvases a misty appearance. This new method was first revealed in Festival of the Federation.

“In 1895 Martin was commissioned to produce various decorations for the town hall and painted two large friezes and a ceiling, Apollo and the Muses and The Arts. He also produced the decoration of the Capitole building in Toulouse, one of his best works; Study for the Sorbonne university in 1908; Work for the Palais de Justice in 1914 and Harvest for the Conseil d'État, in 1920.

“In 1880 he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris. In 1896 he gave a solo exhibition which achieved great success at Galerie Mancin in Paris. In 1935 an exhibition of his work was held at Petit Palais in Paris. After Martin’s death retrospectives of his work were shown in 1983 Paris and Toulouse, 1993 Cahors and Toulouse, and in 1995 Copenhagen. His work has also featured posthumously at thematic group exhibitions including “Jeanne d'Arc. Les Tableaux de l'Histoire at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, in 2003” (Benezit, Dictionary of Artists, Gründ, 2006).

Museum Collections:
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Musée Bonnat, Bayonne
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Musée des Augustins, Toulouse
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Carcassonne
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orléans
Musée Fabré, Montpellier
Musée National d’Art Moderne-Centre de Création Industrielle, Paris
San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid

Mark Murray Fine Paintings is a New York gallery specializing in buying and selling 19th century and early 20th century artwork.

Please contact us if you are interested in selling your Henri Martin paintings or other artwork from the 19th century and early 20th century.