In 1883, the romantic artist, Martin Johnson Heade visited Florida. Impressed with St. Augustine, Heade settled there and worked in a studio in the Ponce De Leon Hotel made available to the artist by Henry Flagler, railroad magnate and developer of Florida's east coast. The combination of St. Augustine's Old World atmosphere, tropical vegetation, and serene marshes created the ideal working environment for Heade. Heade's contribution to American nineteenth-century painting is embodied by his study of light, particularly as reflected in painting of sun-dappled fields and marshes (Casson 213). He is admired for his originality and for the subtle atmosphere effects, glorious light and sumptuous warmth of his canvases. The St. Johns River marked with a colorful sky, steady movement, and a quiet mood, is a good example of Heade's mature painting style.…
