Homer Dodge Martin's first trip to Europe,…

Homer Dodge Martin's first trip to Europe, made in 1876 when he was forty, had been inspired by the works of Jean-Baptiste-Camille and the Barbizon school, which were just beginning to appear in the United States; hereafter, his painting style has gradually become darker, moodier, and more loosely brushed.

Martin had studied briefly with William Hart, and his early work is akin to that of the Hudson River school.

He had moved in 1862 from his native Albany to New York City, where he was able to study the landscapes of John Frederick Kensett.

His early works show an interest in carefully observed detail, as well as the larger forms of landscape such as the shape of land masses and trees silhouetted against the sky.

Elected as associate of the National Academy of Design, New York, in 1868, he had become a full academician in 1874.