19th c. Small Watercolor Study attributed to Martin Johnson Heade (American, 1819-1904), Salt Marshes at Newbury Port c. 1860s. Rowboat in creek foreground, rows of haycocks; line of birds in sky. Notation on back reads salt marshes of Newbury Port - Heade. Newburyport, is a small, coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, 35 miles northeast of Boston. Measures in Frame 8.75x7.50. Sight 3.50x5. PROVENANCE: The Estate of a Litchfield Connecticut Antique & Art Dealer. (This was from their Private Collection). An artist whose body of work ranges from Victorian floral still lifes, to tropical salt marshes to close examinations of flowers and hummingbirds, Martin Heade is one of the better-known and more widely-traveled American artists of the 19th Century.  Heade's primary interest in landscape, and the works for which he is perhaps best known today, was the New England coastal salt marsh. Contrary to typical Hudson River School displays of scenic mountains, valleys, and waterfalls, Heade's marsh landscapes avoided depictions of grandeur. They focused instead on the horizontal expanse of subdued scenery, and employed repeating motifs that included small haystacks and diminutive figures. Heade also concentrated on the depiction of light and atmosphere in his marsh scenes. These and similar works have led some historians to characterize Heade as a Luminist painter. He lived in various parts of the United States including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Augustine, Florida, and he also traveled in Europe and extensively in South America where he visited Brazil, Nicaragua, Columbia, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Heade was born in Lumberville, Pennsylvania, the son of a storekeeper. He studied with Edward Hicks, and possibly with Thomas Hicks. His earliest works were produced during the 1840s and were chiefly portraits. He traveled to Europe several times as a young man, became an itinerant artist on American shores, and exhibited in Philadelphia in 1841 and New York in 1843. Friendships with artists of the Hudson River School led to an interest in landscape art. In 1863, he planned to publish a volume of Brazilian hummingbirds and tropical flowers, but the project was eventually abandoned. He traveled to the tropics several times thereafter, and continued to paint birds and flowers. Heade married in 1883 and moved to St. Augustine, Florida. His chief works from this period were Floridian landscapes and flowers, particularly magnolias laid upon velvet cloth. He died in 1904.

very good, slight discoloration to edge from earlier frame.