Martin, Homer Dodge

Homer Dodge Martin was born in Albany, New York, and studied briefly with Hudson River School artist William Hart.  He worked in the Tenth Street Studio Building from 1865-1882, sketching in New England during the summers.  The National Academy of Design admitted him as a member in 1868.  Artist John La Farge, befriended him and exposed him to contemporary trends in paintings. Martin began to move away from his Hudson River background and toward a more impressionistic style.

Martin lived in France between 1882 and 1886.  There, he absorbed the vision of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and the Barbizon School.  His paintings became more abstract and atmospheric; he began to paint from memory instead of his earlier meticulous sketches.  By 1888, he had moved back to New York and was working in a studio.