1842
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Valley of the Tyne, My Native Country near Henshaw is a 1842 by John Martin, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You’re looking at a tiny watercolor of a giant green valley under a stormy sky. Hills roll like waves, and a river snakes through the middle. Two people and a dog hurry along a path—so small they almost disappear. Martin made these small panoramas to sell, but they feel huge. He used thin washes of color for the sky and sharp little lines for trees and rocks. The storm clouds make the valley feel alive, like it’s about to rain. If you like big, dramatic landscapes, try the subject: england, 19th century.
Panoramic landscapes in watercolor became an important source of income during John Martin’s late career. This work demonstrates his ability to convey monumentality on a small scale and to combine broad washes of color with meticulous detail. The sweeping vista in this drawing describes the fertile valley of the River Tyne, known for its forests, flora, and fauna. Curving arcs of slopes and plains swirl around the composition. A tiny couple and dog rush through the vast landscape beneath ominous storm clouds.
The setting of this watercolor is John Martin's native Northumberland, to which he was deeply attached and described having spent time there "exulting in the sublime grandeur of the surrounding beauties of nature."
Read the full account in the museum source.
John Martin (19 July 1789 – 17 February 1854) was an English Romanticist painter, engraver, and illustrator.
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