{{Short description|American artist (1796–1863)}} {{other people}} {{Infobox person | name = Maria Martin Bachman | image = Maria-Martin.jpg | caption = Maria Martin | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1796|7|6}} | birth_place = Charleston, South Carolina | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1863|12|27|1796|7|6}} | death_place = Columbia, South Carolina | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | occupation = Naturalist, scientific illustrator | known_for = Scientific illustration of flora and insects, particularly for John James Audubon's ''Birds of America'' | signature = }}
'''Maria (/mɝˈaɪə/ mah-RYE-uh)<ref>{{cite web |title=Maria Martin Bachman |url=https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2016/02/maria-martin-bachman.html |website=History of American Women |publisher=History of American Women |access-date=29 July 2024}}</ref> Martin Bachman''' (3 July 1796 – 27 December 1863)<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=James|editor1-first=Edward T.|title=Notable American Women, 1607–1950 : A Biographical Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/notableamericanw02jame_0|url-access=registration|date=1974|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.|location=Cambridge, Mass.|isbn=0674627342|page=[https://archive.org/details/notableamericanw02jame_0/page/505 505]}}</ref> of Charleston, South Carolina, was an American watercolor painter and scientific illustrator. She contributed many of the background paintings for John James Audubon's ''The Birds of America'' (1831–39) and ''Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America'' (1845–48).<ref>{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=Martha J.|title=American Women in Science:A Biographical Dictionary|year=1994|publisher=ABC-CLIO, Inc.|isbn=0-87436-740-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/americanwomenins00bail_0}}</ref> Bachman was the only woman of the three principal assistants that Audubon employed at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jscnhm/v6n1/martin.html|title=Maria Martin (1796-1863)|website=www.sierracollege.edu|access-date=2019-03-02|archive-date=2019-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406011555/https://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jscnhm/v6n1/martin.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Early life== Maria Martin Bachman was born July 6, 1796, in Charleston, South Carolina just two and half weeks after the “Great Fire of 1796” that destroyed many of the buildings and houses in the center of the city.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Maria Martin's world : art & science, faith & family in Audubon's America|last=Debra|first=Lindsay|isbn=9780817319519|location=Tuscaloosa|oclc=973481417|date = 2018-02-27}}</ref> Martin was the youngest of the four surviving children (Eliza, Harriet, and Jane) born to Jacob and Rebecca Martin, well-to-do mantua makers that owned two houses with household slaves.<ref name=":3" /> Raised in a Lutheran household, Maria Martin and her sisters were raised to be “God fearing, responsible adults”<ref name=":3" /> and trained “in the liberal arts and honourable manners”.<ref name=":3" />
Martin's school records have not been discovered, but she had knowledge of literature, French, and German, while also being interested in music, art, and natural science.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Martin, Maria |url=https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/martin-maria/ |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=South Carolina Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref> Martin's mother Rebecca Martin had learned from her second marriage that her husband could easily take legal ownership of her property and finances.<ref name=":3" /> To avoid losing her property to a future husband, Rebecca had a “Marriage Settlement” drawn before marrying Jacob Martin, her third husband.<ref name=":3" /> When Martin was 17 years old her father Jacob left the family to relocate to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his mistress. Her mother's foresight allowed Rebecca to retain ownership of her houses and four slaves when her husband left.<ref name=":3" />
== Career == [[File:Coluber elapsoides (Maria Martin).jpg|thumb|left|Illustration of ''Coluber elapsoides'' by Maria Martin as published in ''North American Herpetology''<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35765792#page/190/mode/1up|title=North American herpetology, or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States /|first1=Holbrook, John|last1=Edwards|first2=Cichowski|last2=S.|first3=Duval, Peter|last3=S|first4=Duval, Peter|last4=S.|first5=Sera|last5=J.|first6=Lehman & Duval|last6=Lithrs|date=30 September 2018|website=biodiversitylibrary.org|volume=v.2 (1838)}}</ref>]] Martin accompanied her brother-in-law, John Bachman, on several field excursions, including one trip to Niagara Falls, and learned how to make scientific descriptions and drawings of plants and animals.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/martin-maria/|title=Martin, Maria - South Carolina Encyclopedia|work=South Carolina Encyclopedia|access-date=2017-10-21|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/hadiwingsfriends0000shul|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/hadiwingsfriends0000shul/page/230 230]|quote=maria martin bachman.|title=Had I the Wings: The Friendship of Bachman and Audubon|last=Shuler|first=Jay|date=1995|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=9780820317052|language=en}}</ref> Martin had also been talented in the making of botanical sketches. In finding out about this talent, Audubon had introduced Martin to new methods, techniques and materials of posing birds, which would soon be added to Martin's botanical art pieces. They had soon created a work of art known as "The Birds of America".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Martin, Maria |url=https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/martin-maria/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=South Carolina Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref> In the 1830s Audubon was a guest at the Bachman household during a trip to study bird species in the South. During his stay, Audubon encouraged Martin in her drawing and tutored her in natural illustration.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kohlstedt|first=Sally Gregory|date=1984|editor-last=Arnold|editor-first=Lois Barber|title=Scientific Educations|jstor=1692836|journal=Science|volume=224|issue=4650|pages=728–729|doi=10.1126/science.224.4650.728|pmid=17780608}}</ref> After realizing Martin's artistic talent, Audubon supplied her with paint brushes and other art materials, and advice on how to use them to develop her talents.<ref name=":2" /> He spoke highly of her work in letters to John Bachman, stating in one letter "Miss Martin, with her superior talents, assists us greatly in the way of drawing; the insects she has drawn are, perhaps, the best I've seen."<ref name=":2" />
Audubon went on to ask Martin to assist with paintings for his definitive book ''The Birds of America''. Over the course of five years, Martin assisted on volumes 2 and 4 the book. She was not paid for this work.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=American Women Artists|last=Rubinstein|first=Charlotte Streifer|publisher=G.K. Hall & Co|year=1982|location=Boston MA|pages=67}}</ref> Audubon credited Martin with nine illustrations, but it is thought that she contributed to at least 30.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://behindthescenes.nyhistory.org/meet-audubons-assistant/|title=Meet Audubon's Assistant Painter: Maria Martin Bachman {{!}} Behind The Scenes|date=2015-04-10|work=Behind The Scenes|access-date=2017-10-21|language=en-US}}</ref> Martin also provided illustrations to John Edwards Holbrook for publication in his work ''North American Herpetology''.
Martin also assisted John Bachman in editing ''The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America'', a collaboration between Bachman and Audubon, and later Audubon's son John Woodhouse Audubon.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Audubon's Butterflies, Moths, and Other Studies|last=Ford|first=Alice|publisher=Studio Publications in association with Crowell|year=1952|pages=82|asin=B0007DKCUS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://johnjames.audubon.org/what-viviparous-quadrupeds-north-america|title=What is "The Viviparous Quadrupeds Of North America"|date=2015-12-22|website=John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove|language=en|access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> The importance of her contribution to ''Quadrupeds'' is discussed in a letter from John Bachman to John J. Audubon, saying Martin "knocks to the right and left with your articles and mine--lops off, corrects, criticizes, abuses and praises by turn" and "she does wonders".<ref name=":2" />
John J. Audubon named a variety of the hairy woodpecker (''Picus martinae'') Maria's Woodpecker, in Martin's honor.<ref name=":1" />
== Personal life == In 1845, Martin moved into Reverend John and Harriet Bachman's house to help her sister Harriet raise her nine surviving children. Harriet was weakened emotionally and physically from consumption and the 14 pregnancies she brought to term between 1816 and 1832. Martin was placed in charge of overseeing the religious and moral education of her nieces and nephews. Martin dedicated her life to the Bachman family ensuring the household maintained order while her sister remained bedridden and dying from consumption.<ref name=":3" />
Two years after Martin joined the Bachman family, Harriet died and left Martin the de facto matriarch of the household. Within two years of living as aunt to the children and sister-in-law to Reverend Bachman, Martin drafted her own marriage settlement and married her brother-in-law Reverend John Bachman whom she remained dedicated wife and business partner throughout her life. She left Charleston for Columbia, South Carolina in 1861 due to the Civil War, and remained there until her death in 1863.<ref name=":3" />
== Exhibitions ==
=== New-York Historical Society Museum & Library === ''Audubon’s Aviary: The Complete Flock'' is an exhibition at the New-York Historical Society featuring all 435 of Audubon's ''Birds of America'' prints.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/audubons-aviary-final-flight-part-iii-complete-flock|title=Audubon's Aviary: The Final Flight (Part III of The Complete Flock)}}</ref> The website released an article titled "Meet Audubon’s Assistant Painter: Maria Martin Bachman", acknowledging Maria Martin's contributions to the work.<ref name="Van Nostrand 289–310">{{Cite journal|last1=Van Nostrand|first1=J. S.|last2=Bachman|first2=J. H.|date=1942-12-01|title=Audubon's Ill-Fated Western Journey: Recalled by the Diary of J. H. Bachman|journal=California History|volume=21|issue=4|pages=289–310|doi=10.2307/25161021|issn=0162-2897|jstor=25161021}}</ref> The article states that Audubon acknowledged Martin's contributions to nine of the ''Birds of America'' prints, but it is thought she collaborated on over 30 of the prints.<ref name="Van Nostrand 289–310"/>
=== The Charleston Museum === Martin is highlighted in the Charleston Museum's exhibition ''Preserving Nature's Beauty: The Art of Herbaria.''<ref name="charlestonmuseum.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.charlestonmuseum.org/exhibits/current/39/preserving-natures-beauty|title=Preserving Natures' Beauty Exhibit {{!}} Charleston Museum {{!}} Charleston, SC|website=www.charlestonmuseum.org|access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> This exhibition displays some Audubon double-elephant-folio prints, as well as her personal work that was not included in ''Birds of America''. The website acknowledges Martin as being known for her paintings of the detailed natural habitats in Audubon's works, as well as her "combination of scientific accuracy and artistic judgement."<ref name="charlestonmuseum.org"/> The exhibition ran from September 14, 2018, to June 23, 2019, in the Charleston Museum lobby.<ref name="charlestonmuseum.org"/>
== Gallery == frameless|265x265px frameless|264x264px frameless|264x264px
==References== <references /> *"Martin, Maria". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed 7 March 2007 *"Martin, Maria." Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris, eds. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
==Further reading== *{{cite book|last1=Arnold|first1=Lois Barber|title=Four Lives in Science: Women's Education in the Nineteenth Century|date=1984|publisher=Shocken|location=New York, NY|isbn=9780805238655|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fourlivesinscien00lois}} *Bachman, C.L., ed. ''John Bachman D.D.'' *Bannon, L.E., Handbook of Audubon Prints. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Co., Inc., 1980. *Bonta, M.M., Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1991, Chapter 2, Maria Martin: Audubon's Sweetheart. *Coffin, Annie Roulhac, ''New York Historical Society Quarterly'' (January 1965) *Corning, Howard, ed. ''Letters of John James Audubon'', 1826–1840. 1930. *Ford, A., John James Audubon: A Biography. New York: Abbeville Press, 1988. *Lindsay, Debra J. 2018. Maria Martin's World: Art and Science, Faith and Family in Audubon's America. The University of Alabama Press.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Maria}} Category:American women illustrators Category:19th-century American illustrators
Category:Painters from South Carolina Category:1796 births Category:1863 deaths Category:Artists from Charleston, South Carolina Category:American watercolorists Category:American women watercolorists