Berkshire Resident Jerry Martin 1926-2017

Artist / Illustrator and Master of Green River

By: Benno Friedman - Aug 17, 2017

We are saddened to have lost another member of our family, Jerry Martin, (March 14, 1926.-August 15, 2017). After a recent fall, his decline was sudden. I will miss him.

Professionally, he was an editorial and advertising illustrator as well as an arts educator at School for Visual Arts in New York. We knew him through summers and weekends in the Southern Berkshires. He was an integral member of our extended family.

A book he had been writing for decades remains unfinished, an intricate, chaotic, all-encompassing exploration of perception, the workings of the brain, pulling bits from most anywhere, a bit like Einstein's unfinished unified field theory, an attempt to explain all four of the forces in the universe as being part of the same field.

Jerry was a great conversationalist, often annoying, continuously challenging, embracing opposition, refusing, perhaps unable to lapse into easy social chatter.

For many years, he hosted any and all of us on countless days down by the Green River which bordered a portion of his land to the northeast. Parties, cookouts, mudbaths were beautiful manifestations of clothing optional hippie culture at its purest. I will never forget the time when a couple of fisherman wandered around the upstream corner to come upon our naked tribe. They continued on, passing us with eyes averted.

As we aged, the Green River days slipped away, unable to withstand the competing distractions of newly acquired spouses, families, interests and obligations fragmenting our swarm. We aged. Jerry aged.

Visiting with him a couple of days ago, I'm relieved and grateful that I could say "goodbye" and "thank you" before he slipped away.

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Reader Comments

"Sad to hear of his passing. I was just telling my sculpture students about Jerry and thought I would check online out of curiosity. I was also a student of his, either in 1983 or 1984. His class was challenging but I loved his conceptual approach. I also remember that he hosted a party for us in his apartment and had us create appetizers but of course they had to be creative and conceptual. Those were good times."

Posted By: Santiago Hernandez on 11-30-2023, 10:02 am
"Jerry was one of my teachers at SVA, around 1986. I remember his painting class well. It was a night class. I can recall when he complemented my work, an abstract color canvas that I was working on. He made me proud of that canvas, and I still have it. I remember that he took the class to his apartment in NYC to see his paintings. The place was dark and artsy, with several paintings about the main room. He had a Himalayan cat that was slinking around. I graduated SVA and worked in the city in advertising for many years, and now I teach. I hope my students think of me as one of the cool teachers, as I thought Jerry was. I don't remember many of my teacher at SVA, but I'll always remember Jerry Martin."

Posted By: George Mazzeo on 10-09-2019, 08:19 pm
"He was my teacher at SVA. Two very different classes. He taught me to go outside of my comfort zone and to find truth in my art."

Posted By: Susan Bulavinetz on 12-07-2018, 09:49 pm
"I am sad to read of Jerry's passing. I enjoyed some of those halcyon days on that bend in the river. That time remains special, a bracket of experience, unique and hilarious. Thx Benno for your thoughts and your focus back then."

Posted By: Jane Hudson on 08-18-2017, 07:06 am