Biographies

Henri Martin (1860 – 1943) Henri Martin’s work ranges in style from the meticulous brushwork of the school of Bouguereau to the pointillisme of , and from the symbolism of Moreau to anticipations of Munch. He was a very talented painter. Bouguereau Seurat From the former artmagick.com website: Martin won the Grand Prix at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Toulouse, after which he was sent to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he was admitted into the atelier of Jean-Paul Laurens. Here he felt sympathetic towards neither realism nor history painting, and he turned instead to paint subjects from the works of poets whom he admired (e.g. Dante, de Musset, Baudelaire). Then, under the influence of Neo-Impressionism, Martin changed his style in 1889. He adopted the juxtaposed touches of pure colour which is also to be found in the work of Ernest Laurent and the Italian artist, Segantini. During this period, Martin also frequented symbolist and artistic circles, exhibiting at the first Salon de la Rose+Croix. Throughout his career Martin executed both vast canvases and small-scale pictures. He was regarded by as his successor in the field of decorative art. In 1895 he executed a decorative scheme for the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, and in 1898, Sérénité (in the museum of Nantes). Puvis de Chavannes With the painting of Beauté (Musée des Augustins, Toulouse) in 1900, another stylistic change took place. Although Martin continued to execute large-scale works, notably for the Capitol in Toulouse, he moved away from literary subjects and turned to landscape, especially that around Bastide-du-Vert (Lot). A French source says, “In 1900 he discovered Quercy, where he stayed during the fine weather. Installed a Labastide-du-Vert, he painted his best work in this area, paying tribute to nature and to light.”