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Henri Martin: A Harmony of Symbolism and Nature

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3 realising that – as described by a contemporary critic Léonce Bénédite – the 'vague occultism' of the Rose+Croix could taint his career. Mystical Symbolism: The Salon de la Rose+Croix in Paris, 1892–1897, the first survey of the Rose+Croix Salon was held at the Guggenheim New York in 2017, before travelling to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. The exhibition included Martin's magnificent Young Saint, now owned by the Musée des Beaux Arts, Brest which was shown at Péladan's first Salon. The acquisition of the idyllic seventeenth century house, Marquayrol, in Labastide-du-Vert in 1900, marked a turning point for Martin. In his paintings he largely abandoned figurative subjects and concentrated on his natural surroundings. For nearly five months every year, Martin returned to this haven in south west France, routinely painting its joyous beauty. Just as Claude Monet depicted the changing colour and atmosphere of the waterlilies at Giverny, Martin painted the gardens of Marquayrol to capture the effects of light at different seasons and times of the day. Martin's merging of Symbolist tendencies with his affiliation for Pointillism becomes clear in the works he created in Labastide-du-Vert. Here nature, and not the figure, becomes imbued with myth and mystery - a vessel for viewing the world on a higher level. Martin developed a synthesis of Impressionism and Pointillism to celebrate this poetic environment and its evocative atmosphere. The 1920s once more marked a new stage in Martin's art. In 1923 he bought a home in Collioure and began painting the coastal town increasingly over the coming years. This small fishing port played a significant role in the development of many Modern masters. Celebrated as the birthplace of Fauvism, in 1905 Matisse and Derain famously painted their first Fauve works in Collioure. The Pointillist Paul Signac was also repeatedly drawn to the fishing town, returning there regularly from 1887 until his death in 1935. Martin was greatly influenced by Signac's Divisionist technique of separating tone into individual marks of colour. During his lifetime Martin enjoyed great success. He was presented with many awards including the Légion d'Honneur and won medals from the Salon des Artists Français where he exhibited throughout his life, and at the Universal Expositions of 1889 and 1900. Martin's works are now held in many of the most prestigious collections internationally including Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit and the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. There is also a museum named after him and devoted to his work and antiquities in Cahors, France.

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