David Roberts R.A. 1764 - 1865
David Roberts, Scottish painter, was born in Stockbridge, near Edinburgh, on October 24th, 1796. His parents were poor, his father being a shoe maker. From an early age, Roberts displayed a distinct artistic talent. Therefore, on the advice of the director of the Trustees Academy at Edinburgh, the young boy was apprenticed to a house-painter. This eventually involved decorative and mural-like work and lasted approximately seven years. It was hard work but would provide the future artist with a practical knowledge of how to paint in various mediums. In fact, nearly everything Roberts - never a formally schooled artist would need later concerning the technical aspect of his profession he would learn during this apprenticeship.
The year 1824 was an important one in David’s life. That year he made his first trip to Europe, sketching
many of the monuments and cathedrals with great, almost photographic precision. When he returned, he turned these sketches into his first real “romantic travel” paintings, then in great vogue. Some were exhibited and sold in ever-increasing prices. Soon he had his first patron, Lord Northwick; his work was reviewed favourably in The Times. Yet he was still obliged to continue painting stage scenery, albeit now at the prestigious Covent Garden (his seventeen scenes for their production of Mozart’s Abduction from Seraglio in 1826 created a sensation and made his name nationally known). In 1827, the newly-founded Royal Scottish Academy exhibited his paintings and in 1830 he was elected president of the Society of British Artists. Saving his money (and on the advice of a friend and fellow Scot artist David Wilkie), Roberts set out for Spain in 1832, then a relatively little-known country to most Northern Europeans.
Even before his trip, and certainly after it, Roberts had established a reputation as an important architectural artist. If not celebrated, he was on the verge of earning his living now on commissions alone, any artist’s dream. The trip took him not only to Spain but Portugal and Morocco. After visiting Burgos, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Cordova, Granada, Malaga, Gibraltar, Cadiz and Seville, he settled down in Spain for several months, working up some of his sketches in oil. In all, he would depart with more than 200 sketches of both people and places, although confessing in a letter home, “I begin to doubt whether I shall be able to paint half of them.” On his return from Spain, in 1833, several of his sketches were published by Jennings in three issues of "The Landscape Annual."
In addition, 26 of the Spanish sketches were lithographed and issued in a volume called Picturesque Sketches from Spain published in 1837 by John Murray. This publication brought him into contact with the Belgium-born artist and lithographer Louis Haghe who would figure so prominently in the success of his future Egypt and Holy Land series.
This website is dedicated to the 26 prints from the original Picturesque Sketches In Spain Vol 1. Only 1,200 were ever printed and very few remain. These pictures were taken from Thomas Barnard Linsell's private collection.
FOR SALE A VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY TO BUY THIS FIRST EDITION 1837 BOOK? +44 7521 926 686
The year 1824 was an important one in David’s life. That year he made his first trip to Europe, sketching
many of the monuments and cathedrals with great, almost photographic precision. When he returned, he turned these sketches into his first real “romantic travel” paintings, then in great vogue. Some were exhibited and sold in ever-increasing prices. Soon he had his first patron, Lord Northwick; his work was reviewed favourably in The Times. Yet he was still obliged to continue painting stage scenery, albeit now at the prestigious Covent Garden (his seventeen scenes for their production of Mozart’s Abduction from Seraglio in 1826 created a sensation and made his name nationally known). In 1827, the newly-founded Royal Scottish Academy exhibited his paintings and in 1830 he was elected president of the Society of British Artists. Saving his money (and on the advice of a friend and fellow Scot artist David Wilkie), Roberts set out for Spain in 1832, then a relatively little-known country to most Northern Europeans.
Even before his trip, and certainly after it, Roberts had established a reputation as an important architectural artist. If not celebrated, he was on the verge of earning his living now on commissions alone, any artist’s dream. The trip took him not only to Spain but Portugal and Morocco. After visiting Burgos, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Cordova, Granada, Malaga, Gibraltar, Cadiz and Seville, he settled down in Spain for several months, working up some of his sketches in oil. In all, he would depart with more than 200 sketches of both people and places, although confessing in a letter home, “I begin to doubt whether I shall be able to paint half of them.” On his return from Spain, in 1833, several of his sketches were published by Jennings in three issues of "The Landscape Annual."
In addition, 26 of the Spanish sketches were lithographed and issued in a volume called Picturesque Sketches from Spain published in 1837 by John Murray. This publication brought him into contact with the Belgium-born artist and lithographer Louis Haghe who would figure so prominently in the success of his future Egypt and Holy Land series.
This website is dedicated to the 26 prints from the original Picturesque Sketches In Spain Vol 1. Only 1,200 were ever printed and very few remain. These pictures were taken from Thomas Barnard Linsell's private collection.
FOR SALE A VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY TO BUY THIS FIRST EDITION 1837 BOOK? +44 7521 926 686
