Martin Richard Fletcher Butlin, CBE, FBA (b. 1929), is a British art historian. His main field of study is British art history and his published works reflect, in particular, a study of art of the 18th and 19th centuries. He is an authority on J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) and

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of t ...

(1757–1827).

Early life

Butlin was born on 7 June 1929,BUTLIN, Martin Richard Fletcher
''Who's Who 2016'', A & C Black, 2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2015) his birth registered in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area ...

. He was educated at Rendcomb College in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

before going up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, and later the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

Career

Butlin was appointed Assistant Keeper of the Historic British Collection at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

in 1955, a post he held until 1967, when he was then appointed Keeper, a post he held for 22 years, ending in 1989. Since that time he has been a consultant to

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...

in London.International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004
(Psychology Press, 2003), entry 'Butlin, Martin (Richard Fletcher)', page 85 Butlin was appointed CBE in the

1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

. He is a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...

. Throughout his working life Butlin has researched assiduously, producing a number of publications in his area of expertise. Amongst these is included a

catalogue raisonné A ''catalogue raisonné'' (or critical catalogue) is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media. The works are described in such a way that they may be reliably identified ...

of the paintings and drawings of

. Butlin co-authored with Evelyn Joll ''The Paintings of

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

'', first published in 1977, both authors receiving the Mitchell Prize for the History of Art a year later. The book was described in Joll's obituary as a "... fully rounded catalogue raisonné of some 560 paintings..." Photographs attributed to Butlin appear at the Courtauld Institute's of Art's Conway Library. This is a collection of mainly architectural images containing glass and film negatives as well as prints. The collection is currently being digitised as part of the wider project Courtauld Connects.

Selected publications

Works on William Blake

*''William Blake (1757-1827): A Complete Catalogue of the Works of William Blake in the Tate Gallery'', Tate Gallery, 1957, 2nd edition 1971''.'' British Library General Reference Collection L.R.413.l.21. *''William Blake'', Tate Gallery little book series, Tate Gallery, 1966. British Library General Reference Collection X419/2657 *''William Blake'', Tate Gallery, 1978. British Library General Reference Collection BS.4/193 *''William Blake in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria'' ''(with Ted Gott and Irena Zdanowicz),'' The Gallery, 1989. British Library General Reference Collection YA.!999.b.1935 *''The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake,'' New Haven, 1981. British Library General Reference Collection LR410.cc.7/26 *''On the Morning of Christ's Nativity: Milton's Hymn with Illustrations by William Blake with note on the illustrations by Martin Butlin'', Whittington Press & Angscot Productions,1981. British Library General Reference Collection Cup.510.dga.30

Works on J.M.W. Turner

* ''The Paintings of J. M. W. Turner'' (with Evelyn Joll), Yale University Press, 1977. British Library General Reference Collection LR.410.cc.7/17 *''Turner Watercolours with an Introduction by Martin Butlin,'' Barrie and Jenkins, 1975. British Library General Reference Collection L.R.407.a.4. *''Turner'' (with

Sir John Rothenstein ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

), Heinemann, 1965. British Library General Reference Document Supply fL71/1256 *''The Paintings'' ''of J. M. W. Turner'' (with Evelyn Joll), Tate Gallery, 1977. British Library General Reference Collection LR.410.cc.7/17 *''The Later Works of J. M. W. Turner'', Tate Gallery, 1965. British Library General Reference Collection X.429/1086 *''Turner at Petworth: Painter and Patron'' (with Mollie Luther and Ian Warrell), Tate Gallery, 1989. British Library General Reference Collection LB.31.4330 *''The Oxford Companion to J. M. W. Turner'' (ed. with Evelyn Joll and Luke Herrmann), Indiana University Press, 2001. British Library General Reference Collection YC.2001.b.294

Other works

*''Samuel Palmer’s Sketchbook of 1824'', ''Introduction and Commentary by Martin Butlin,'' Trianon Press,1962. British Library General Reference Collection Document Supply X23/7786 *''The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture'' (with

Mary Chamot Mary Chamot (8 November 1899 – 10 May 1993) was a Russian-born English art historian and museum curator, and the first woman curator at the Tate Gallery. Biography Chamot was born on 8 November 1899 in Strelna, near Saint Petersburg, the only ...

and Dennis Farr), Tate Gallery Catalogue, 1964. British Library General Reference Collection X.421/5754 *''The Blake-Varley Sketchbook of 1819 in the collection of M.D.E. Clayton-Stamm'', Heinemann, 1969. British Library General Reference Collection X.429/4208 *''Aspects of British Painting 1550–1800, from the Collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation'' (exhibition catalogue), Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, 1988. British Library General Reference Section Document Supply 88/26876

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butlin, Martin 1929 births Living people People educated at Rendcomb College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art British art historians People associated with the Tate galleries Christie's people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the British Academy