David Roberts (painter)

David Roberts RA ( born October 2, 1796 in Stockbridge, near Edinburgh, † November 25, 1864 in London ) is considered one of the most important landscape painter of the 19th century. Thematically, his work is partly attributable to the Orientalism.

Biography

David Roberts came from modest circumstances. His talent was already evident very early, but it was his father, a shoemaker, financially not possible to send him to a school. At the age of eight, he earned money by painted surfaces with imitations of marble and wood; with eleven or twelve, he began to record his surroundings in drawings.

The basic principles of drawing him were probably of Beugo Gale, a decorator from the neighborhood, taught at the Roberts seven years working as an apprentice. 1815 Roberts moved to Perth, where he found his first paid job as a decorator. A year later, he returned to Edinburgh and became assistant to the set designer at a second-rate traveling theater, the " Pantheon ". In 1819 he got a job as an official stage painter at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and Edinburgh and married Scottish actress Margaret McLachlan 1820. The marriage was short-lived; Roberts' only daughter, Christine came in 1821 to the world.

Meanwhile, Roberts had become so well known that he was obliged in 1821 along with Clarkson Stanfield, with the fast bound him a very friendly rivalry, as a decorative painter at Drury Lane Theatre in London. His first oil painting, a view of the Abbey of Dryburgh, 1824 issued; two years later he worked in Covent Garden. The oil painting " The interior of the cathedral at Rouen " Roberts became known in 1826 for the first time widely. The picture was much agreement, and Roberts decided in 1830 to work in the future as a studio painter and devote himself to the study of painting. His involvement in the Royal Society of British Artists meant that he was in 1831 elected president of the Society. Despite the increasing number of private contracts Roberts was in 1831 still the opportunity to travel to France, Germany and the Netherlands. The views brought appeared partly as illustrations for travel books, partly as independent works of art, which later texts and explanations were written. In Scotland itself, he undertook at this time many visits. The resulting works were published as engravings, but unfortunately only applied once.

Orient Travel

1832 Roberts went on the advice of a friend to Spain, where he became acquainted with almost all the major cities and drew a large number of ruins and monuments. 1837 published a selection of these vistas under the title Picturesque Sketches of Spain. Although this publication did not make him rich because he had betrayed his publisher, but was the basis for his permanent international reputation, and procured him the acquaintance of the talented Belgian engraver Louis Haghe.

Roberts two -year stay in Spain, who had brought him up to Tangier, increased obviously be latent interest in the Orient. Anyway, he came after lengthy preparations in August 1838 trip to Egypt, which was to make him famous beyond his death. For three months, Roberts was on a rented boat on the Nile to Nubia and Abu Simbel on the road, visiting all the major archaeological sites. He even managed to enter the first European to the interior of a mosque and draw. Continuing his journey to Jerusalem, and from there to Lebanon, seized him in Baalbek a persistent fever that prevented an onward journey. Finally, Roberts appeared on May 13, 1839 by Beirut from the journey home.

After Roberts had the publisher Francis Graham Moon found, all 247 of the Belgian engraver Louis Haghe created lithographs of the Orient Travel 1842-1849 published in six volumes in London. 1841 Roberts became a full member of the Royal Academy and took his traveling again. David Roberts died at the age of 68 years on 25 November 1864 in London and was buried in the cemetery of Norwood.

Abroad

  • August 1838-February 1839: Egypt - Alexandria, Cairo, journey along the Nile to Nubia and Abu Simbel; Fortification of Ibrim, Temple of Wadi Maharraka and Wadi Dabod, Temple of Dakke, Temple of Gyrshe, Temple of Kalabsha, Wadi Kardassy, Philae, Temple of Karnak and Luxor, Temple of Kom Ombo, the Temple of Edfu, Temple of Esna.
  • February to May 1839 Sinai Peninsula, Palestine, coasts of Lebanon - Mount Sinai, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Gulf of Aqaba, Petra, Mount Hor, Wadi Araba, Ruins of Semua, Hebron, Beth Gebrin (formerly Eleutheropolis ), Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jaffa, Lod, Jerusalem, Jericho, Jordan, Dead Sea, Baalbek (formerly Heliopolis), Nablus, Nazareth, Mount Tabor, Cana of Galilee, sea of ​​Galilee ( Lake Tiberias ).

Works (selection)

  • The high choir of St. Paul church at Antwerp. Vernon Gallery, London
  • The interior of the Cathedral of Burgos. Vernon Gallery, London
  • Aboo Simbel
  • Karnak temple Column Hall
  • The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Studio Edition, London 1993, ISBN 1-85170-260-1 ( Nachdr d ed London 1842/49 ).
  • Egypt and Nubia. " Moon Publ, London 1856 ( 6 vols ).
  • Cities in the north of Africa. London 1852.
  • Egypt and the Holy Land. Florence 2000, ISBN 88-476-0724-8.
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