Martin was, as stated by the inscription, elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1771. He worked in England from 1768 to 1780: his best known works are decorative capricci at Sunbury Court, Middlesex. The present drawings probably date after his return to Sweden in 1780 where, apart from a trip to England in 1788-91, he remained until his death. He made numerous topographical drawings and prints of Sweden much inspired by Carle Vernet, with whom he had studied in Paris in the late 1760s