Martin Johnson Heade American Hudson River School Painter, 1819-1904 Martin Johnson Heade (August 11, 1819-September 4, 1904) was a prolific American painter known for his salt marsh landscapes, seascapes, portraits of tropical birds, and still lifes. His painting style and subject matter, while derived from the romanticism of the time, is regarded by art historians as a significant departure from that of his peers.
Art historians have come to disagree with the common view that Heade is a Hudson River School painter, a view given wide currency by Heade's inclusion in a landmark exhibition of Hudson River School landscapes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1987.
The leading Heade scholar and author of Heade's catalogue raisonn??, Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., wrote some years after the 1987 Hudson River School exhibition that "...other scholars??myself included??have increasingly come to doubt that Heade is most usefully seen as standing within that school."
According to the Heade catalogue raisonn??, only around 40 percent of his paintings were landscapes. The remaining majority were still lifes, paintings of birds, and portraits, subjects unrelated to the Hudson River School. Of Heade's landscapes, perhaps only 25 percent were painted of traditional Hudson River School subject matter.
Heade had less interest in topographically accurate views than the Hudson River painters, and instead focused on mood and the effects of light. Stebbins writes, "If the paintings of the shore as well as the more conventional compositions...might lead one to think of Heade as a Hudson River School painter, the [marsh scenes] make it clear that he was not."
Moses Brown English: "Moses Brown," oil on canvas, portrait by American painter Martin Johnson Heade. 49 1/2 in. Founder, benefactor of Rhode Island College, later renamed Brown University. Image courtesy of the Brown University Portrait Collection, Brown University, Providence, R.I.
Date 1857
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Painting ID:: 74695
Moses_Brown English: "Moses Brown," oil on canvas, portrait by American painter Martin Johnson Heade. 49 1/2 in. Founder, benefactor of Rhode Island College, later renamed Brown University. Image courtesy of the Brown University Portrait Collection, Brown University, Providence, R.I.
Date 1857
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Sudden Showers, Newbury Marshes English: "Sudden Showers, Newbury Marshes," oil on canvas, by the American artist Martin Johnson Heade. 13 1/4 in. x 26 5/16 in. Courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. Gift of Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., B.A. 1960.
Date ca. 1865-1875
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Painting ID:: 74730
Sudden_Showers,_Newbury_Marshes English: "Sudden Showers, Newbury Marshes," oil on canvas, by the American artist Martin Johnson Heade. 13 1/4 in. x 26 5/16 in. Courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. Gift of Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., B.A. 1960.
Date ca. 1865-1875
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Jungle Orchids and Hummingbirds English: "Jungle Orchids and Hummingbirds," oil on canvas, by the American artist Martin Johnson Heade. 18 1/4 in. x 23 in. Yale University Art Gallery, Christian A. Zabriskie and Francis P. Garvan, B.A. 1897, M.A. (Hon.) 1922, Funds. Courtesy of Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Date 1872
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Painting ID:: 74807
Jungle_Orchids_and_Hummingbirds English: "Jungle Orchids and Hummingbirds," oil on canvas, by the American artist Martin Johnson Heade. 18 1/4 in. x 23 in. Yale University Art Gallery, Christian A. Zabriskie and Francis P. Garvan, B.A. 1897, M.A. (Hon.) 1922, Funds. Courtesy of Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Date 1872
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Lynn Meadows English: "Lynn Meadows," by the American artist Martin Johnson Heade, oil on canvas. 12 3/8 in. x 30 3/8 in. Yale University Art Gallery, gift of Arnold H. Nichols, B.A. 1920. Courtesy of Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Date 1863
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Painting ID:: 74809
Lynn_Meadows English: "Lynn Meadows," by the American artist Martin Johnson Heade, oil on canvas. 12 3/8 in. x 30 3/8 in. Yale University Art Gallery, gift of Arnold H. Nichols, B.A. 1920. Courtesy of Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Date 1863
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Mare and Colt in a Marsh English: "Mare and Colt in a Marsh," oil on canvas, by the American artist Martin Johnson Heade. 15 1/8 in. x 30 1/8 in. Yale University Art Gallery, gift of Teresa Heinz in memory of her husband H. John Heinz III, B.A. 1960. Courtesy of Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Date 1863
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Painting ID:: 74814
Mare_and_Colt_in_a_Marsh English: "Mare and Colt in a Marsh," oil on canvas, by the American artist Martin Johnson Heade. 15 1/8 in. x 30 1/8 in. Yale University Art Gallery, gift of Teresa Heinz in memory of her husband H. John Heinz III, B.A. 1960. Courtesy of Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Date 1863
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Martin_Johnson_Heade American Hudson River School Painter, 1819-1904 Martin Johnson Heade (August 11, 1819-September 4, 1904) was a prolific American painter known for his salt marsh landscapes, seascapes, portraits of tropical birds, and still lifes. His painting style and subject matter, while derived from the romanticism of the time, is regarded by art historians as a significant departure from that of his peers.
Art historians have come to disagree with the common view that Heade is a Hudson River School painter, a view given wide currency by Heade's inclusion in a landmark exhibition of Hudson River School landscapes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1987.
The leading Heade scholar and author of Heade's catalogue raisonn??, Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., wrote some years after the 1987 Hudson River School exhibition that "...other scholars??myself included??have increasingly come to doubt that Heade is most usefully seen as standing within that school."
According to the Heade catalogue raisonn??, only around 40 percent of his paintings were landscapes. The remaining majority were still lifes, paintings of birds, and portraits, subjects unrelated to the Hudson River School. Of Heade's landscapes, perhaps only 25 percent were painted of traditional Hudson River School subject matter.
Heade had less interest in topographically accurate views than the Hudson River painters, and instead focused on mood and the effects of light. Stebbins writes, "If the paintings of the shore as well as the more conventional compositions...might lead one to think of Heade as a Hudson River School painter, the [marsh scenes] make it clear that he was not."