Roland O'Leary is impressed by the fantastical, mythical and biblical landscapes of John Martin
I will confess that I knew nothing about John Martin (1789-1854) or his work before stepping into the Tate Britain's Apocalypse exhibition. However, one of the themes of the exhibition, to my mind, is that his works are imprinted on the popular consciousness, even if his reputation is perhaps more obscure than other artists hailing from the same era.
This theme is spelled out clearly by the accompanying information, which traces Martin's influence to all sorts of popular culture – from the images seen in films like Ben Hur, Independence Day and Lord of the Rings to the writing of cult sci-fi writer H.P. Lovecraft to heavy metal band 'Angel Witch'. I felt that there was some resonance to these (rather bold) claims – Martin's early oil painting The Bard (1817, seen below) depicts a landscape right out of Tolkien, while many of Martin's works show vast, dark cityscapes beneath brooding skies that could have inspired Lovecraft's cyclopean cities in At the Mountains of Madness or The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. On the other hand, a parallel with Star Wars didn't quite ring true for me, and I felt that the attempt to force the modernity and relevance of these works on the visitor did an injustice to their artistry – these paintings are spectacular visions of heaven and hell, worlds of myth and imagination. I found them vastly impressive and accessible without needing modern parallels to be drawn for me by the curator.
Martin came from a working background, and he used his talent for art to make a living. As such, the exhibition stresses his commercialism and his struggle to gain acceptance from the high-brow art critics of his day. He gained immense success in the early Regency period when 'sublime' paintings were in fashion, exhibiting huge oil paintings, for prominent patrons including the Governor of the Bank of England. One room is dedicated to these 'blockbuster paintings', like Belshazzar's Feast (1826, seen below), a particular favourite of mine. I think that one of the visual successes of these paintings comes from the contrasts of scale – human figures are depicted in intricate detail, but they look tiny against enormous landscapes and chaotic skies: these are paintings rich in action.
An interesting portion of the exhibition shows Martin's development of mezzotints, where Martin applied a tonal printmaking method to produce striking results. Martin replicated his oil paintings in mezzotint as well as creating unique works of art using this technique, which then allowed him to distribute them commercially – indeed, he embarked on ventures including illustrating editions of the Bible and John Milton's Paradise Lost. He also engaged in trying to redesign London's infrastructure, illustrating elaborate sewerage and transport systems, but he never won the contracts and risked his artistic reputation in this field. His mad brother Jonathan Martin trying to burn down York Minster was also a blemish on the family name! John Martin suffered a decline in the 1830s and 1840s when his sublime style was viewed with vulgarity, and his artistic prowess far outweighed his business-sense.
The highlight of the exhibition for me was the triptych of The Last Judgement (one part seen below) , masterpieces of 1853 which resurrected Martin's career. A clever light and audio show illustrated how these paintings would have been exhibited around the country in panoramas or dioramas, which were immensely popular at the time. The show is brilliantly executed, right down to the murmurs of the excited crowds, but the paintings themselves speak a thousand words of drama - here, a velvet sunset floats above the green fields of paradise, there, the pit of hell revolves red while mountains and men tumble from a lightning-split sky. The silhouettes of strange cityscapes are traced on pastel foothills. Nymphs struggle, satyrs dance, sinners fall, warriors strive, angels scour – all the beings of the universe parade before epic landscapes of darkness and light.
These works are mythic in scale and subject, and whether they have seeped into the popular consciousness from Martin's exposure in shows and Bible prints, or whether they illustrate deeper themes of the psyche, they certainly resonated with me.
Apocalypse is showing at Tate Britain, Millbank, until 15th January.
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