Henri Martin moved to Paris in 1879 from his home town of Toulouse. A scholarship enabled him to study in the studio of Jean Paul Laurens and in 1883, at the age of 23, he was awarded his first medal at the Paris Salon.

In 1885, Martin won a trip to Italy, a journey that was to have a profound effect upon his artistic development. Until this period he had adopted a classical, cold and correct technique, but the Italian light and his study of masters such as Giotto and Masaccio gave him a new perspective.

Influenced by the Neo-Impressionists, Martin used the Divisionist technique to give his work an ethereal quality; he abandoned the academic style of his earlier works and in 1889 submitted a canvas to the Salon that was wholly Pointillist. During the next decade, still impressed by the work of the Symbolists, Martin peopled his landscape with shimmering creatures and floating muses. Puvis de Chavannes said of him: 'Celui-ça sera mon heritier, il me continuera'. However, from 1900 Martin appears to have detached himself from the Symbolists and allowed his admiration for the Impressionist to influence his work to a greater extent.

A shy, quiet character, Henri Martin remained independent, refusing contracts from many successful Parisian dealers. He found he no longer enjoyed living in Paris, and, from the turn of the century painted almost exclusively in the countryside abound his house, Marquayrol near Labastide du Vert in the Lot Valley. His painting changed very little from this time on - he had found a style with which he was comfortable; these canvases, often large, colourful and filled with light, are widely considered to be amongst his most successful works.