Fletcher Martin

Fletcher Martin was an American painter, illustrator, muralist, and educator. He is best known for his images of the military during World War II and his images of boxing and other sports. Martin was born in 1904 in Palisade, CO. By the age of twelve he was working as a printer. He dropped out of high school and held jobs such as a lumberjack and professional boxer. He served in the US Navy from 1922-26. He was largely self taught as an artist. Martin worked as a printer in Los Angeles in the late 1920s, and as an assistant to Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros in the early 30s. He taught at local art schools such as Otis Art Institute. He won commissions to paint murals for the New Deal's Section of Painting and Sculpture. Under the WPA he painted a mural study for the Kellogg, ID post office titled "Mine Rescue" in 1939 which was rejected by local industrialists. His most ambitious mural, also done under the WPA in 1937, was entitled "Legends of Fernandino and Gabrileno Indians" and depicted overlapping scenes of Native American life and ritual. As an artist-correspondent for Life Magazine during World War II, Martin made hundreds of sketches of US soldier life. Fourteen of his paintings from the North African campaign were published in Life in 1943, and brought him national recognition. Martin's paintings often depicted men in conflict. Many of his most popular works were reproduced as woodcuts, lithographs, or silkscreens. After the War he taught at the Art Students League Summer School in Woodstock, NY. During his career, he was a visiting instructor or artist-in-residence at various universities. He received numerous prizes. He was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1969, and a full academician in 1974. He and his fifth wife retired to Guanajuato, Mexico in 1967, where they lived until his death in 1979.