The born son of the Austrian counsel to England in 1801, Conrad Martens is most widely known as an artist-explorer who served onboard the South American Exposition ship BEAGLE alongside of naturalist Charles Darwin. His original 1833-35 sketches led to painting commissions for more than 40 years.

Fate and opportunity collided to make Martens an artist still known in the 21st Century. After ten years of coastal sketching tours of Great Britain, including studying art with watercolorist Copley Fielding, he sailed onboard HYACINTH out of Plymouth. After several ports, in Rio de Janeiro, Martens heard that artist Augustus Earle had taken ill and there was a vacancy onboard BEAGLE. He sailed to Montevideo in July 1833 to join the crew. Wi...