Artwork Page for A Man Playing a Harp with other Figures beside a Lake

Details / Information for A Man Playing a Harp with other Figures beside a Lake

A Man Playing a Harp with other Figures beside a Lake

1820

John Martin

(British, 1789–1854)
Culture
England, 19th century
Medium
brown wash with graphite
Measurements
Sheet: 19.7 x 26.8 cm (7 3/4 x 10 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1997.39
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Martin is best known for his grandiose, apocalyptic visions of approaching doom, drawn from the Bible or mythology. But these two landscapes, created as pendants, reveal a less known aspect of his work. Martin executed a number of small landscape studies in a distinctive stippled technique, allowing him to render extraordinary detail. The mood of these landscapes is subdued; classical figures recline and play music beside a tranquil lake. However, their anthropomorphic trees and the suggestion of the vastness of the surrounding landscape foreshadow what was to become Martin’s central theme: the smallness and helplessness of man against the infinite powers of the universe.
A horizontally oriented brown wash and graphite drawing depicts three figures beside a central lake. To the left, dark, jagged rocks slope toward the water, while a gnarled tree with twisted branches leans over the right shoreline. In the center, a woman stands near a seated man playing a harp and a third figure. Muted brown tones create a hazy forest receding into a pale background, with a signature in the lower right (see "Inscriptions").

A Man Playing a Harp with other Figures beside a Lake

1820

John Martin

(British, 1789–1854)
England, 19th century

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