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Conrad Martens (21 March 1801 – 21 August 1878) was an English-born landscape painter active on HMS ''Beagle'' from 1833 to 1834. He arrived in Australia in 1835 and painted there until his death in 1878.


Life and work

Conrad Martens' father, J. C. H. Martens, was an Austrian-born merchant who originally came to London as
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n Consul. Conrad was born in 1801 at
Crutched Friars The Crutched Friars (also Crossed or Crouched Friars, cross-bearing brethren) were a Roman Catholic religious order in England and Ireland. Their name is derived from a staff they carried with them surmounted by a crucifix. There were several orde ...
near
Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...
. After his father's death in 1816, he determined to pursue a career as an artist studying
landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...
under the prominent
watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...
ist
Copley Fielding Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (22 November 1787 – 3 March 1855), commonly called Copley Fielding, was an English painter born in Sowerby, near Halifax, and famous for his watercolour landscapes. At an early age Fielding became a pu ...
. His two brothers, John William and
Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...
, were also artists. In 1832 Captain Blackwood of HMS ''Hyacinth'' asked him join his three-year cruise to India as a topographical artist. In
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
near the end of 1833, he heard
Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of ...
, captain of HMS ''Beagle'', who was employed in surveying the Straits of Magellan, wanted to engage an artist to replace the ship's artist
Augustus Earle Augustus Earle (1793–1838) was a British painter. Unlike earlier artists who worked outside Europe and were employed on voyages of exploration or worked abroad for wealthy, often aristocratic patrons, Earle was able to operate quite indepen ...
, who had fallen ill. In this way he joined the second voyage of ''Beagle'' and stayed on board for some two years, until the schooner which accompanied them was paid off and the officer who had command of her returned to ''Beagle'', meaning there was no longer room for Martens. While on board Martens struck up a lifelong friendship with
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, who was taking part in the expedition as a self-financing gentleman naturalist and companion to the captain. Martens left ''Beagle'' at Valparaiso in the second half of 1834 and took passage to
Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...
and many of the South Sea islands, including
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, before arriving in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
1835. Martens arrived in the colony with a valuable collection of sketches, which he at first intended to take back to his friend Blackwood in India, but finding his pictures were appreciated in Sydney, he found constant employment and decided to remain. He went on to become one of the most proficient, prominent and prolific
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
artist in the colony. ''Beagle'' arrived in 1836, and Darwin and Captain Fitzroy commissioned a number of paintings from ''Beagle''s voyages in
Tierra Del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...
and the Pacific. Other large commissions followed, and in 1837 some of Martens' Australian
watercolours Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...
were exhibited at the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in London. In 1839, however, a drought triggered an economic recession which was to last until the 1850s, and commissions became increasingly difficult to acquire. In the 1840s he turned to
lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
, which allowed him to sell the same work many times over; his ''View of Sydney from the North Shore'' was especially popular. Conrad Martens married Jane Carter, of Welsh heritage and the only child of William and Jane Carter at St James Church, Sydney, on 9 March 1837. Jane's father, a private barrister and First Master in Chancery of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, had purchased Martens' painting ''View of Tahiti'' in September 1836. In late 1851 Martens sailed to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, then travelling back by road across the Great Dividing Range to the Darling Downs, then south through New England to Sydney. En route, he lodged with squatters and pastoralists, drawing their houses and properties and hoping for commissions. The plan succeeded, and Martens was eventually commissioned to paint over seventy watercolours, nearly forty of which are still known today. Between 1841 and 1852 he travelled through the
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
and
Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its ...
regions; much of his collection was digitized at the
State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...
. He exhibited at the Victorian Fine Arts Society in Melbourne in 1853 and at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1855. Eventual improvement of the Australian economy in the later 1850s (largely due to the discovery of gold) led to an increase in significant commissions. A famous painting is ''North Head, Sydney Harbour'' (1854). In 1862 he received a letter from Darwin; he replied, congratulating him on the success of ''
On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...
''. He sent Darwin a watercolour of Brisbane River and exhibited at the International Exhibition in London. In 1863 he became Assistant Librarian in the Parliamentary Library, securing his financial position, but severely curtailing the time he could spend on artistic work. Nevertheless, he exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition in 1867 and found time to tutor aspiring talented Australians such as Mary Gedye. He received his first public commission in 1872, from the Victorian Gallery (later
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
) for a watercolour of Apsley Falls on Waterloo (Pastoral) Station, near
Walcha, New South Wales Walcha () is a town at the south-eastern edge of the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. The town serves as the seat of Walcha Shire. Walcha is located by road from Sydney at the intersection of the Oxley Highway and Thunderbol ...
, and a second similar commission in 1875 from the New South Wales Academy of Arts (later
Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...
), of whose Council he became a member in 1877. From the later 1860s Martens suffered from
angina Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is typically the result of parti ...
, and he died from a heart attack on 21 August 1878. He was buried at a private ceremony at St Thomas Rest Park, North Sydney, and was carried to his grave by Sir John Hay, Dr Ward, Mr Slade, Mr Marshall Bailey, and Captain Mann. Like many artists Martens was not universally acknowledged in his lifetime, but by 1910 his works were displayed in pride of place at the opening of the Mitchell Gallery at the
State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...
. In particular it was watercolours that were at this time singled out for praise: "As works of art they rank high. As pictorial gems of our early story they are beyond price."


Selected works

File:Conrad Martens - Stalagmites, Burragalong Cavern - Google Art Project.jpg,
Stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; ; ) is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist ...
s, Burragalong Cavern File:HMS Beagle by Conrad Martens.jpg, HMS ''Beagle'' being hailed by native Fuegians File:Conrad Martens - View of the Heads, Port Jackson - Google Art Project.jpg, View of the Heads,
Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...
File:Conrad Martens - One of the falls on the Apsley - Google Art Project.jpg, One of the falls on the Apsley River File:(Tahiti) 1840 Conrad Martens.jpg, Tahiti, 1840, Conrad Martens, oil painting File:Mount Wingen 1878 Conrad Martens.jpg, Mount Wingen,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, 1878, Conrad Martens, watercolour File:Government House Stables, 1842 painted by Conrad Martens.jpg, Government House Stables, 1842, Conrad Martens File:(Sydney from Sandy (Rose) Bay), 1840 Conrad Martens.jpg, Sydney from (Sandy) Rose Bay, 1840, Conrad Martens File:The funeral of Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, 1856, painted by Conrad Martens.jpg, The Funeral of Rear Admiral
Philip Parker King Phillip Parker King (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King ''née'' Coom ...
, Sydney, 1856, by Conrad Martens File:Old Government House 1842 C. Martens.jpg, Old Government House, 1842, Conrad Martens File:Vaucluse from the Hill, 1841 painted by C. Martens.jpg,
Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.
from the Hill, 1841, Conrad Martens File:HMS Torch, Sydney. 1855, Conrad Martens.jpg, HMS ''Torch'', Sydney. 1855, watercolour sketch by Conrad Martens


List of Sketchboooks

* Devonshire, ca. 1830, 17 watercolour, pencil, pencil and wash drawings by Conrad Martens, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 10
* Pencil sketches in Devonshire, ca. 1831-1832 10 pencil sketches by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by D.S. Mitchell, 1907, State Library of New South Wale
PXC 388
* Album of sketches around Sydney, ca. 1843–1852, 49 pencil sketches, 18 pencil and wash sketches, and 3 watercolours by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 25
* Album of pencil sketches and lithographs, ca. 1836–1859, 12 pencil sketches, 3 pencil and wash sketches, and 9 lithographs by Conrad Martens, donated by Colonel A.E. Knox, 1960, State Library of New South Wale
PXC 971
* Sketchbook of Devonshire views, ca. 1830–1831, 20 pencil sketches, 4 watercolours by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by D.S. Mitchell, 1907, State Library of New South Wale
PXC 390
* Sydney sketchbook, ca. 1835–1842, 39 pencil, or pencil and wash sketches by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by D.S. Mitchell, 1907, State Library of New South Wale
PXC 391
* Album of sketches of Sydney and surrounds, ca. 1835–1870, 21 pencil sketches, and 3 pencil and wash sketches by Conrad Martens, donated by Colonel A.E. Knox, 1960, State Library of New South Wale
PXC 970
* Sketchbook of English scenes, ca. 1820–1830, 45 watercolour, pencil, and sepia wash drawings by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 11
* Album of harbourside and mountain scenes, ca. 1837–1860, 10 pencil drawings, 5 watercolours, 1 pencil and wash sketch and 1 colour lithograph by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PXX 12
* Album of sketches in England and Sydney, ca. 1831, 13 pencil sketches, 3 grey wash drawings, and 7 watercolours, and 1 oil by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 31
* Sketchbook of scenes in and around Sydney, ca. 1855–1856, 21 pencil and 19 pencil, watercolour and wash drawings by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 16
* Sketchbook of views around Scone, ca. 1862–1874, 22 pencil drawings with additional manuscript notes by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 18
* Sketchbook of harbour and bush scenes, ca. 1856–1872, 2 watercolours, 4 pencil and watercolour, 23 pencil drawings, with additional manuscript notes by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 17
* Album of views in Devon, 1828–1832, 27 pencil sketches by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 35
* Sketchbook of figures and scenes, ca. 1850–1854, 1 crayon, 28 pencil, 9 ink, 12 watercolours, and 12 loose drawings by Conrad Martens, bequeathed by Sir William Dixson, 1952, State Library of New South Wale
DL PX 15


Family

Martens was married to Jane Brackenbury Martens, née Carter (died 6 July 1894). They had a son and two daughters; the elder daughter, Rebecca Martens (1838 – 10 July 1909) was a long-serving secretary and supporter of the St Leonards branch of the
British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The ...
. She was an artist, known for watercolours. Their other two children died before them.


See also

*
Australian art Australian art is a broad spectrum of art created in or about Australia, or by Australians overseas, spanning from Prehistory of Australia, prehistoric times to the present day. The art forms include, but are not limited to, Indigenous Australi ...


References


Further reading

*Douglas Dundas.
Martens, Conrad (1801–1878) - Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2
' (Melbourne University Press, 1967) pp 212–213. * Richard Keynes. ''Fossils, Finches and Fuegians: Charles Darwin's Adventures and Discoveries on the Beagle, 1832-1836''. (London: HarperCollins, 2002) . This book contains several reproductions of Martens' work. * Pullin, R., Clegg, H., Varcoe-Cocks, M., & National Gallery of Victoria. Council of Trustees. (2011). Eugene von Guérard : Nature revealed / Ruth Pullin. (1st ed.). Melbourne: Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, * Susanna de Vries. ''Conrad Martens on the Beagle and in Australia'' (Pandanus Press, 1993). . * Ellis, E., Martens, C., & State Library of New South Wales. (1994). Conrad Martens : Life & art / Elizabeth Ellis. Sydney: State Library of New South Wales Press, * Lindsay, L., & Martens, C. (1920). Conrad Martens : The man and his art / by Lionel Lindsay. Sydney: Angus & Robertson
759.994


External links


Conrad Martens
at the
Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

Works by Martens
(
National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
,
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
)
Conrad Martens
(
State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...
, Sydney)
The Conrad Martens sketchbooks - illustrations of the voyage
(
Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...
's Digital Image Collections). Includes sketches made as a member of the crew of HMS ''Beagle''.
Conrad Martens: The second voyage of the HMS 'Beagle'
(
National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...
)
Forest, Cunningham's Gap
(Watercolour, 1856 - Queensland Art Gallery) {{DEFAULTSORT:Martens, Conrad 1801 births 1878 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters English watercolourists English landscape painters Australian landscape painters People from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets English emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian painters 19th-century English male artists 20th-century English male artists