Elias Martin

Elias Martin
Engraving by Henrik Wallgren
Born	8 March 1739
Died	25 January 1818(1818-01-25) (aged 78)
Nationality	Swedish
Known for	History painting landscape

Elias Martin ARA (8 March 1739 – 25 January 1818) was a Swedish genre, history, and landscape painter and engraver from . He is known for his watercolour paintings of Stockholm, and his landscape oil paintings that feature romantic lighting effects. Nationalencyklopedin describes him as Sweden's "first great landscape painter".

Martin's father was a carpenter and wanted his son to work in carpentry. Martin, however, was more interested in art, and decided to become an apprentice of the painter F.C. Schultz. During his time with Schultz, he was hired by the naval architect Fredrik Henrik af Chapman to design ship ornaments. This job led to an acquaintanceship with Augustin Ehrensvärd, a lieutenant colonel in the artillery and a painter, who brought Martin to the sea fortress of Sveaborg and encouraged him to pursue his painting.

Martin stayed at Sveaborg for two years and painted several paintings of the fortress and its surroundings under the supervision of Ehrensvärd. He also gave drawing lessons to the garrison officers and Ehrensvärd's son, Carl August Ehrensvärd.

In May 1766, Martin traveled to Le Havre and Paris in France where he mostly worked on his own. He tried to copy the style of François Boucher, but quickly realized that it did not suit him. Martin was not a follower of French classicism, and therefore moved to London in 1770. He may have briefly visited Rome before his move.

In England, Martin spent most of his time on landscape painting, receiving inspiration from Claude Lorrain and the English landscape school. He painted several paintings in this style, but also experimented with portraits, genre paintings, and history paintings.