Maria Martin Bachman of Charleston, South Carolina, was an American watercolor painter and scientific illustrator.
14 Facts About Maria Martin
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Maria Martin contributed many of the background paintings for John James Audubon's The Birds of America and Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America.
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When Maria Martin was 17 years old her father Jacob left the family to relocate to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his mistress.
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Maria Martin accompanied her brother-in-law, John Bachman, on several field excursions, including one trip to Niagara Falls, and learned how to make scientific descriptions and drawings of plants and animals.
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Audubon went on to ask Maria Martin to assist with paintings for his definitive book The Birds of America.
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Maria Martin provided illustrations to John Edwards Holbrook for publication in his work North American Herpetology.
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Maria Martin assisted John Bachman in editing The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, a collaboration between Bachman and Audubon, and later Audubon's son John Woodhouse Audubon.
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In 1845, Maria Martin moved into Reverend John and Harriet Bachman's house to help her sister Harriet raise her nine surviving children.
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Maria Martin was placed in charge of overseeing the religious and moral education of her nieces and nephews.
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Maria Martin dedicated her life to the Bachman family ensuring the household maintained order while her sister remained bedridden and dying from consumption.
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Two years after Maria Martin joined the Bachman family, Harriet died and left Maria Martin the de facto matriarch of the household.
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Maria Martin left Charleston for Columbia, South Carolina in 1861 due to the Civil War, and remained there until her death in 1863.
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The website released an article titled "Meet Audubon's Assistant Painter: Maria Martin Bachman", acknowledging Maria Martin's contributions to the work.
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Maria Martin is highlighted in the Charleston Museum's exhibition Preserving Nature's Beauty: The Art of Herbaria.