Artist, co-founder of Ontario Society of Artists, 1872  first Director of Ontario art school, 1879
Charter member of Royal Canadian Academy of Art, 1880;  Royal British Colonial Society of Artists, 1909;  Canadian Pacific Railway artist 1887-1910

Highlights of Thomas Mower Martin’s art career

As a youth Martin was adept at doing sketches on his walks in the country near London, England where he was born, as well as holiday walking trips he made with his brothers through Wales and to the Isle of Wight.  In 1858 he started work at the age of 15 as a carpenter and sometimes draftsman, in his spare time he studied landscape art with a Mr. Ataway at the South Kensington School of Art; there also, with Mr Humphreys, he studied landscape and figures.  The National Gallery in London was filled with portraits and Martin spent many hours sketching them to learn the techniques by trial and error. Like so many other artists in his time he was largely self-taught.

He immigrated to Canada from London, England in 1862 and was one of a handful of artists who founded the Ontario Society of Artists in 1872. In 1879 he was the first Director of their school , and, teacher while he continued to paint privately. At that time too, he was keenly involved in the Art Union in Toronto which was formed to encourage people to view and buy artist's works.

He travelled frequently throughout Ontario, from Quebec to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick before the late 1880’s, then through to the west coast starting in 1887 with 10 trips until 1910 when he was 72.  Like all of the famous 'Railway Artists' he agreed to give the Canadian Pacific Railway first rights to his paintings for the CPR hotels and advertising use in return for free passage for each trip. Some of his most spectacular paintings are of the Rockies in the Glenbow Museum's collection in Calgary, Alberta. He also continued with trips through Ontario, especially around Lake Superior. Many of his earlier paintings are from his first days when he was a settler in Muskoka 1862-1863. 

In 1880 he was a founding and charter member of the Royal Academy of Artists and in 1882 his works helped form the nucleus of the National Art Gallery’s collection in Ottawa.

77 of his paintings illustrated a book called Canada published in 1906. In 1908 24 of his paintings illustrated a book called Kew Gardens.
For more on this artist read 'The Father of Canadian Art   Thomas Mower Martin  1838-1934'

Thomas Mower Martin, who had been slated by his father for a career in the East India Company, spent some time in basic training at a military academy near Enfield.  His father died and Martin who had not enjoyed the military life was free to start work at age 15 as a carpenter/draughtsman of houses in England. About the age of 20 he went into business with another draughtsman-builder but by 1862 the country was in the grip of seriously poor economic times and they too faced a business crisis and folded.

Martin's brother had already move to South Africa and now Martin felt motivated to move. At that time the Canadian government was advertising for settlers.  He decided to take Canada up on the offer of free land to homestead.  Soon after, he arrived in Quebec City with his wife Emma in June 1862 with full intentions to be a pioneer on his Lot #5 in Muskoka, Ontario. A year later, realizing the poor soil would not produce food for the larder, and now with the first child of nine they would eventually have, he resettled in Toronto. Poor economic times there showed he could not find a job nor discover a business in which he felt likely to succeed. Two resident artists he met had given up on trying to make a living inToronto and moved on to New York city. Seeing a clear field he drew on his youthful art hobby and opened a studio upstairs at 11 King Street West and set up as a professional artist, perhaps the first in Toronto. That kept him going until his death at 96 in 1934.

Martin traveled extensively throughout Ontario, to and through the Maritimes and later westwards to sketch and paint landscapes, wildlife and native scenes, just as they were. 

In mid-life Martin joined the Swedenborg faith in Toronto and became a popular lecturer there as well as on his travels around Ontario and his trips to the west which included jaunts to Los Angeles, California, Portland, Oregon, Seattle where he sometimes organized local Swedenborg groups. He was often invited to speak on his experiences as an artist painting Canada and especially about his travels in the west.There is much more history, some family photographs and 20 colour photographs of several of his paintings in the biography, some from public collections, others from private colllectors.  

The Father of Canadian Art   Thomas Mower Martin  1838 – 1934  by Toni Graeme

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