Keith Martin artist

Keith Martin (1911–1983) was an American abstract and surrealist painter, collagist, and educator. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he studied fine arts at the University of Nebraska, graduating in 1933. During his studies, he won a statewide poster contest in 1930. After college, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago with childhood friend Charles Rain, traveling to European cities such as Vienna, Paris, and Berlin. Martin served in the army as a camouflager until his discharge in 1945. He lived primarily in Baltimore for 35 years, teaching at the Baltimore Museum of Art from 1958 to 1968. Martin’s artistic style evolved from surrealist works in the 1930s-1940s to abstraction in the 1950s. His early career included a solo exhibition at New York City’s Julien Levy Gallery in 1935 and designing costumes for ballets by the School of American Ballet in 1936–1937. In 1947, he participated in a Minneapolis exhibition with fellow Nebraskan artists Dwight Kirsch and Gladys M. Lux, and his painting *The Tragedy of Hamlet* was shown at the University of Nebraska. Another New York exhibition followed at the Duveen-Graham Gallery in 1956. Martin’s work is held in numerous collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum (*Witch Box*, *Yellow Lily #1*, *Disaster Area*, *Dried Leaves*, and *Altar Table*), The National Gallery of Art (drawings and collages), the Museum of Modern Art (ballet costume drawings), and the Baltimore Museum of Art. His costume designs for *Harlequin for President* and *Show Piece* were featured in a 2019 MoMA exhibition about Lincoln Kirstein. ...