British 1789-1854 John Martin Gallery His first exhibited subject picture, Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion (now in the St. Louis Art Museum), was hung in the Ante-room of the Royal Academy in 1812, and sold for fifty guineas. It was followed by the Expulsion (1813), Paradise (1813), Clytie (1814), and Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon (1816). In 1821 appeared his Belshazzar's Feast, which excited much favorable and hostile comment, and was awarded a prize of £200 at the British Institution, where the Joshua had previously carried off a premium of £100. Then came the Destruction of Herculaneum (1822), the Creation (1824), the Eve of the Deluge (1841), and a series of other Biblical and imaginative subjects. The Plains of Heaven is thought to reflect his memories of the Allendale of his youth. Martin's large paintings were inspired by "contemporary dioramas or panoramas, popular entertainments in which large painted cloths were displayed, and animated by the skilful use of artificial light. Martin has often been claimed as a forerunner of the epic cinema, and there is no doubt that the pioneer director D. W. Griffith was aware of his work." In turn, the diorama makers borrowed Martin's work, to the point of plagiarism. A 2000-square-foot version of Belshazzar's Feast was mounted at a facility called the British Diorama in 1833; Martin tried, but failed, to shut down the display with a court order. Another diorama of the same picture was staged in New York City in 1835. These dioramas were tremendous successes with their audiences, but wounded Martin's reputation in the serious art world.  Related Paintings of John Martin :. | The Seventh Plague | The Bard | Pandemonium - One out of a set of mezzotints with the same title | Manfred and the Alpine Witch | The Great Day of His Wrath |
Related Artists:
Paul Huet
French Painter, 1804-1869
Arturo Ferrari
(Milan, 1861 - 1932) was an Italian painter. Initiated into artistic studies by his father Cesare, an associate of Luigi Scrosati, and the painter Mose Bianchi from Lodi, Arturo Ferrari completed his training at the Brera Academy under the guidance of Giuseppe Bertini from 1877 to 1884 while working in the studio of Gerolamo Induno at the same time. He made his debut at the Esposizione di Belle Arti di Brera in 1879 with a view of the interior of Milan Cathedral, thus inaugurating the repertoire of Milanese perspective views that was to be a constant feature of his vast production of oil paintings and watercolours. He soon became the guiding spirit of a poetic and sentimental evocation of "Old Milan" during the phase of transition to the 20th century, when the face of the city changed radically through wholesale rebuilding. A regular participant in all the major exhibitions until 1932, the year of his death, he was the recipient of numerous marks of official recognition and enjoyed considerable success with the public as well as the esteem of conservative critics.
Carlton Alfred Smith,RI,RWS
fl.1871-1916