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Source Description
Before he became famous as a history painter, John Martin earned a living by teaching and painting watercolors. His so-called sepia drawings, landscapes in monochromatic wash, found an enthusiastic audience. The artist’s method for painting foliage in these drawings was idiosyncratic; form and texture were created almost entirely in negative spaces without the use of line. Highlighted leaves, bark, vines, and roots were delineated with the white of the paper, creating a peculiar, instantly recognizable, spongy effect.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
160063
label
Figures Seated by a Lake in a Wooded Landscape
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
160063
contentType
drawing
title
Figures Seated by a Lake in a Wooded Landscape
description
Before he became famous as a history painter, John Martin earned a living by teaching and painting watercolors. His so-called sepia drawings, landscapes in monochromatic wash, found an enthusiastic audience. The artist’s method for painting foliage in these drawings was idiosyncratic; form and texture were created almost entirely in negative spaces without the use of line. Highlighted leaves, bark, vines, and roots were delineated with the white of the paper, creating a peculiar, instantly recognizable, spongy effect.
date
1820
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79980665
creators
2786
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 19.8 x 26.6 cm (7 13/16 x 10 1/2 in.)
cul
England, 19th century
accession
1997.38
Source extras
tec
brown wash and point of brush with graphite underdrawing
tombstone
Figures Seated by a Lake in a Wooded Landscape, 1820. John Martin (British, 1789–1854). Brown wash and point of brush with graphite underdrawing; sheet: 19.8 x 26.6 cm (7 13/16 x 10 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1997.38
supportMaterials
description
cream wove paper
watermarks
J. WHATMAN
collection
DR - British
inscriptions
inscription
signed and dated, in brown ink, at lower right: J. Martin 1820; inscribed, in graphite, on verso, at center: William / No. 3
didYouKnow
John Martin's biographer believed that his early landscapes, such as this one, were inspired by classical texts by Ovid.
citations
citation
Lemonedes, Heather. <em>British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page_number
Cat 19a, pg 60-63
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:18:30.593000
sourceId
160063
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - British
med
brown wash and point of brush with graphite underdrawing
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
facce853690b98ce