Johan Fredrik Martin (8 June 1755 – 28 September 1816) was a Swedish painter and engraver of the eighteenth century. He worked in a variety of media, especially

stipple Stippling is the creation of a pattern simulating varying degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists. Art In printmaking, stipple engraving ...

, contour etching and

aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. It has also been used ...

Biography

Martin was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of Olof Martin and Ulrika Haupt. The famous landscape painter

Elias Martin Elias Martin (8 March 1739 – 25 January 1818) was a Swedish Genre works, genre, History painting, history, and Landscape art, landscape painter and engraver from Stockholm. He is known for his watercolour paintings of Stockholm, and his lands ...

(1739–1818) was his elder brother; both men had sons who were also painters. In his youth Martin devoted himself primarily to the art of drawing. He spent the years 1770–1780 in England and received his education there from English graphic artists including

William Woollett William Woollett (15 August 173523 May 1785) was an English engraver operating in the 18th century. Life Woollett was born in Maidstone, of a family which came originally from the Netherlands. He was apprenticed to John Tinney, an engraver in ...

and

Francesco Bartolozzi __NOTOC__ Francesco Bartolozzi (21 September 1727 – 7 March 1815) was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London. He is noted for popularizing the "crayon" method of engraving. Early life Bartolozzi was born in Flo ...

. At first he worked very close to his brother Elias, but after 1785 he became more independent and made graphic prints for other artists, among them

Pehr Hilleström Pehr Hilleström (18 November 1732 – 13 August 1816) was a Swedish artist. He served as a professor and director at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. Biography Hilleström was born on the island of Väddö in the district of Roslagen, S ...

. After his return to Sweden he made graphic works such as ''Svenska galeriet'' (2 booklets with 12 portraits and biographies 1782–83).''

Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon ''Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon'' () is a compact Sweden, Swedish dictionary of biography first published in 1873–1876 by the physician and antiquarian Herman Hofberg (1823–1883). The second, updated edition was published in 1906, under th ...

'', 1906''

Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

'', (2nd edition, 1912) When Elias made a complete set of drawings for

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet, and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as wel ...

's song play '' Bacchi Tempel'' (The Temple of

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

), Johan Fredrik engraved them; both were "close friends" with Bellman. In 1784–87 Martin undertook several journeys through Sweden to subscribe prospects. In 1797 he published the collection ''Utsigter över Stockholm'' (Prospects of Stockholm), made with contour etchings which he hand-coloured with watercolours; these were widely sold. In 1805 he began to develop these and similar drawings in

, and his great work, ''Svenska vyer'' arose gradually. His other works include the engraved plates to shield Brands ''Voyage pittoresque au Cap Nord'', as well as plates from

Louis Masreliez Louis Masreliez (1748 – 19 March 1810), born Adrien Louis Masreliez, was a French-born, Sweden, Swedish Painting, painter and interior designer. Biography Masreliez was born in Paris and came to Sweden at the age of 5 in 1753. He was the son o ...

drawings, his brother Elias's landscape paintings and his drawings of the Bacchus temple. He also made many portraits and engravings on a wide variety of subjects. Martin was technically very skilled, working in several graphic techniques, especially

, contour etching and aquatint. Among his works is the "beautifying theatre view" from the

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is the southern district of Stockholm City Centre. Overview The Södermalm district covers the island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''), which, however, is not fully separated from th ...

district of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

with upper-class audience that is a

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 ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

after a drawing by his brother Elias from about 1790.

Works

File:Bacchi Tempel.jpg, Illustration in

's '' Bacchi Tempel'', 1783, drawn by

, engraved by Johan Fredrik File:Hayboat coming into Stockholm JF Martin 1780s.jpg, Hayboat coming into Stockholm: detail. 1780s File:Country people in Blekinge, Sweden (8530827596).jpg,

Aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. It has also been used ...

over contour etching ''Country people in Blekinge'', c. 1800, after original by

File:Stockholmspanorama 1790.jpg, Detail of view of Stockholm from

Mosebacke Mosebacke (''Mosebacke torg'') is a square and park situated on Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden. History The park's first plantings took place during 1852–1853. The square and the surrounding neighborhood of Mosebacke were created after the M ...

. This image was a watercoloured etching in the collection ''Utsigter över Stockholm'' (Prospects of Stockholm, 1797). An

variant was published as the first sheet in the series ''Svenska vyer'' of 1805.

References

Sources

* *
Martin, Johan Fredrik
in ''

'', 1906 *

External links

Illustrated list of artworks
on MutualArt * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Johan Fredrik 18th-century Swedish painters 18th-century Swedish male artists 19th-century Swedish painters 1755 births 1816 deaths Age of Liberty people 18th-century Swedish engravers 19th-century Swedish engravers Swedish landscape painters Swedish male painters 19th-century Swedish male artists Painters from Stockholm