‘There is no other exhibition like this in the world’
Herne Hill artist Martin Grover has just been informed that his screenprint, A Strong Tree With Many Strong Branches, has been accepted for the prestigious Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. It is inspired by the novel, Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb, which was adapted into the iconic film noir classic, starring Robert Mitchum, writes Michael Holland.
The title, though, is taken from one of the novel’s chapters, and Martin explains that the artwork depicts a time in the book when two children have narrowly escaped a psychopathic, murderous preacher in a tiny boat and are floating towards an unknown future. That is something that you would never imagine from looking at the picture and seeing the serenity of the environment and the calmness of the water as the boat slowly moves across it, hardly making a ripple.
Having seen the film, however, I remember that it is fraught with tension as you worry about the safety of the kids, who know he is close to catching them. I wondered how the artist created such a luscious, atmospheric riverscape from the book:
‘I wanted the work solely to reflect my response to the prose,’ he begins. ‘The Ohio River is the backdrop in the novel, which takes place in Depression-era America. I researched a few old photos of the river from around that time and used those as an initial reference. I like to combine elements of reality with imagination.’
At a recent exhibition, I saw another, oil on canvas, version of this scene, by Martin, which also left you quite meditative. I asked how he managed to do that:
‘I called that painting ‘The Drifters’, as a bit of a nod to Moon River’s lyrics:
“Two drifters, off to see the world
There’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after the same rainbow’s end
Just around the bend…”’
As the artist softly spoke the words, I felt myself drifting round the river’s bend in the boat.
‘It’s a bit more optimistic than the realities of what the book was portraying!’ he said, dragging me back from my daydream.
The book must be as powerful as the film because Martin was driven to make several sketch paintings, the large canvas, and the original screen print that was accepted for the Royal Academy. He pre-empted my next question – Why?
‘If I have an image I like,’ he explained, ‘it’s nice to work it out over a series of paintings; although the scene might be the same, the composition and colour changes in each depiction.’
It now all began to make sense.
But this is not the first book Martin has used for inspiration: ‘Over the years I have illustrated poems or favourite songs; this, though, is the first time since I did some drawings based on Lord of the Flies that I have been influenced by a novel. I’m really liking the challenge and have already earmarked The Ice Palace as possibly the next novel to create some work from.’
But now the artist has to prepare for the Summer Exhibition. A big affair but one that will not unnerve him. ‘I am really lucky to have had work selected on a few occasions for the R.A.,’ he says before humbly adding, ‘but I’ve had more rejections than acceptances.’
‘Even so, it is still a major achievement,’ I offer.
‘Absolutely. The thrill of getting that acceptance email is still as great, if not greater than the first time. I really enjoy the ride and Varnishing Day, which is such a historic event dating back to the founding of the Summer Show… Not much in the way of varnishing happens these days but it’s a great way to meet fellow artists and have a drink or ten!’
‘What else excites you?’
‘There is no other exhibition like this in the world where jobbing/part-time artists get the chance to hang alongside the greats of the art establishment. Because of that, and the fact there is so much competition to get in, it feels like a real achievement, even though the process is a real lottery and I never think I deserve to be selected.’
‘Is it life-changing?’
‘It won’t change the way I work, and I suspect it maybe won’t be a life-changing event – not unless some major gallery decides that I need international recognition!’ He said with a wry smile.
‘You never know,’ I said. ‘At best, I like to keep it real. I’m hoping I’ll sell a few of the prints and I will enjoy my work being seen by thousands of people in the coming months, but other than that, my life will carry on in the same cycle of creating new work and searching for different spaces and avenues to exhibit it.’
And that is what Martin Grover is good at – creating new work and showing it regularly when and where he can.
Summer in the Royal Academy… Winter in New York?
As I said, you never know.
Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1J 0BD from 16th June – 23rd August.
Booking and full details: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/summer-exhibition-2026
