Theory- The Millennium Gallery- John Martin...

Martin's dramatic images have inspired everything over the years from sci-fi films to heavy metal album covers. Yet, compared to contemporaries like Constable and Turner, he was largely snubbed by the establishment of his day- John Ruskin was a particularly vocal critic! Instead, Martin developed his audience from the grass roots- relying on an eye for enthralling subjects and tireless touring of his paintings to build his popularity.

The destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah:- Firstly the reason why I do not have my own photographs of this exhibition is due to the fact that the gallery would not allow anyone to take photographs so I had to get my own photographs off the internet. Anyway I found the gallery really interesting when I first saw his work. These three paintings in particular 

The great day of his wrath. stood out to me due to their sheer size and just powerful appearance. The images I also feel considering when they were painted are in my opinion ahead of their time- the idea of collapsing buildings and end of the world thoughts although quite common nowadays I imagine they wouldn't have been in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. 

Getting back to the size of these three pieces, they are enormous, bigger than ten feet in height and width and I think with the pieces being about the end of the world the fact that they are so big just make them so much more dramatic and effective. Another feature  like about Martin's are the thunderous crag-like clouds which are slightly ambiguous and is actually difficult to determine what is what in his pieces. With the landscape and apocalyptic themed  pieces the uncertainty and almost mess/clash of colours and land makes sense in an end of the world piece of art.

Adam and Eve Entertaining the Angel Raphael:- This painting is based on Books V to VII of Milton's Paradise Lost. At the far right Adam and Eve receive the Angel Raphael who cautions them against disobeying God's command and warns them of Satan's plan to bring abut the Fall.    The terrain descends dramatically to reveal a panoramic vista of Paradise a visionary landscape of luxuriant growth. This is nature at its very birth, in a primal state of innocence before its corruption by man. I think that out of all of Martin's works that this piece is by far my favourite and I think this because whereas his other works are mostly dark, ambiguous and rarely have form, this one piece is of an actual landscape and the bright blue and green tones are a nice change from back and red. The theme of the piece and detail considering the size I think is also amazing and when I imagine the amount of time and dedication it must have taken to create such a piece, I just have so much respect for the artist.