About 1856, after trying several trades unsuccessfully, Martin’s family finally allowed him to study painting with the encouragement of Erastus Dow Palmer. He moved to New York City in 1862 shortly after his marriage. In February 1864, he exhibited at the Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture at the Studio of Palmer for the Benefit of the U.S. Sanitary Commission.
In the 1860s and 1870s he traveled often to the White Mountains and other parts of New England, making sketches and improving his art. In 1865 he opened his studio at the 10th Street Studio Building in New York City, which he kept until 1882. He was forced by circumstances to try illustrations and worked for Scribner’s Magazine and Century for a short time.
He exhibited at the National Academy of Design and the Brooklyn Art Association from 1861 to 1894. His art did not gain recognition until years after his death He died deeply in debt and virtually unrecognized.
Obituary From The Kansas City Star
Kansas City, MO / Saturday, February 13, 1897 / Page 3 / ARTIST H. D. MARTIN DEAD. / End of the Career of a Leading American Landscape Painter.
St. Paul, Minn., Feb. 13.–Landscape Painter H. D. Martin died here late yesterday afternoon.
Homer Dodge Martin was born in Albany, N. Y., October 28, 1836. He received no regular art instruction, but began exhibiting at the National academy about 1857. He removed to New York early in 1862, and was elected an associate member of the National academy in 1868, and academician in 1875. In 1876, 1880 and 1881 he traveled in England, and from 1882 to 1886 lived in France, sketching and painting from nature. His landscapes are notable for color and atmosphere, and include “White Mountains From Randolph Hill,” “Thames at Richmond,” “Evening on the Saranac,” “Sand Dunes on Lake Ontario,” “On the Neck at Newport,” and “Old Manor at Criqueboeuf, Normandy.”
References
Independent research by the authors
New Hampshire Scenery