David Roberts

{"Id":422,"Name":"David Roberts","Biography":"\u003Cstrong\u003EROBERTS, DAVID (1796-1864)\u003C/strong\u003E, Scottish painter, was born at Stockbridge, Edinburgh, on the 24th of October 1796. He was apprenticed by his father, a shoemaker, for seven years to a painter and house-decorator; and during this time he employed his evenings in the study of art. In 1820 he formed the acquaintance of Clarkson Stanfield, then painting at the Pantheon, Edinburgh, at whose suggestion he sent three pictures in 1822 to the Exhibition of Works by Living Artists, held in Edinburgh. In the same year he removed to London, where he worked for the Coburg Theatre, and was afterwards employed, along with \u003Ca href=\u0022/asp/database/art.asp?aid=1068\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003EStanfield\u003C/a\u003E, at Drury Lane. In 1824 he exhibited at the British Institution a view of Dryburgh Abbey, and sent two works to the first exhibition of the Society of British Artists, of which he was elected president in 1831. In the same autumn he visited Normandy, and the works which were the results of this excursion began to lay the foundation of the artists reputationone of them, a view of Rouen Cathedral, being sold for eighty guineas. His scenes for an opera, \u003Cu\u003EThe Seraglio\u003C/u\u003E, executed two years later, and the scenery for a pantomime dealing with the navstl victory of Navarino, and two panoramas executed jointly by him and Stanfield, were among his last work for the theatres. In 1829 he exhibited the\u003Cu\u003E Departure of the Israelites from Egypt\u003C/u\u003E, in which his style first becomes apparent; three years afterwards he travelled in Spain and Tangiers, returning in the end of 1833 with a supply of effective sketches, elaborated into attractive and popular paintings. His \u003Cu\u003EInterior of Sevifie Cathedral\u003C/u\u003E was exhibited in the British Institution in 1834, and sold for 300; and he executed a fine series of Spanish illustrations for the \u003Cu\u003ELandscape Annual\u003C/u\u003E of 1836, while in 1837 a selection of his \u003Cu\u003EPicturesque Sketches in Spain\u003C/u\u003E was reproduced by lithography.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIn 1838 Roberts made a long tour in the East, and accumulated a vast collection of sketches of a class of scenery which had hitherto been hardly touched by British artists, and which appealed to the public with all the charm of novelty. The next ten years of his life were mainly spent in elaborating these materials. An extensive series of drawings was lithographed by \u003Ca href=\u0022http://wwar.com/masters/h/haghe-louis.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003ELouis Haghe\u003C/a\u003E in \u003Cu\u003ESketches in the Holy Land and Syria, 1842-1849\u003C/u\u003E. In 1851, and again in 1853, Roberts visited Italy, painting the Ducal Palace, Venice, bought by \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/ILN_1899-1900/Lord_Londesboroough.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003ELord Londesborough\u003C/a\u003E, the \u003Cu\u003EInterior of the Basilica of St Peters, Rome, Christmas Day, 1853\u003C/u\u003E, and \u003Cu\u003ERome from the Convent of St Onofrio\u003C/u\u003E, presented to the Royal Scottish Academy. His last volume of illustrations, \u003Cu\u003EItaly, Classical, Historical and Picturesque\u003C/u\u003E, was published in 1859. He also executed, by command of \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.bartleby.com/65/vi/Victoria1.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003EQueen Victoria\u003C/a\u003E, a picture of the opening of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.speel.demon.co.uk/other/grtexhib.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003EGreat Exhibition of 1851\u003C/a\u003E. In 1839 he was elected an associate and in 1841 a full member of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.victorianweb.org/art/institutions1.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 class=\u0022link\u0022\u003ERoyal Academy\u003C/a\u003E; and in 1858 he was presented with the freedom of the city of Edinburgh. The last years of his life were occupied with a series of views of London from the Thames. He had executed six of these, and was at work upon a picture of St Pauls Cathedral, when, on the 25th November 1864, he died suddenly of apoplexy.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cu\u003EA Life of Roberts\u003C/u\u003E, compiled from his journals and other sources by James Ballantine, with etchings and pen-and-ink sketches by the artist, appeared in Edinburgh in 1866.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cu\u003ESource:\u003C/u\u003E\u003C/strong\u003E Entry on the artist in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http://63.1911encyclopedia.org/R/RO/ROBERTS_DAVID.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E1911 Edition Encyclopedia\u003C/a\u003E.\u003Cp\u003E","Awards":null,"HasAlbums":false,"HasPortraits":true,"HasRelationships":false,"HasArticles":false,"HasDepictedPlaces":true,"HasLetters":true,"HasLibraryItems":false,"HasProducts":false,"HasSignatures":false,"HasVideos":false,"HasMapLocations":true,"TotalArtworks":53}