An exciting discovery in Geelong is this small oil painting. Signed & dated, it is a long-lost David Roberts original, known from a print engraved in 1831 and published in 1832.
It depicts a ‘picturesque’ stretch of the Rhine river, with the Round Tower of Oberwesel and other fortifications. David Roberts was a Scottish artist who began his career in the 1820’s while a house decorator, and a set-maker for a circus and various theatres. He began travelling in the 1820’s, when he would have visited the Rhineland region and made sketches. Back in England, he painted this scene on an oak panel. This was then sold to a publication called ‘The Literary Calendar’, who printed it as part of their illustrated publication in 1832.
Painted for Publication:
The illustrations for ‘The Literary Souvenir’, listed left, were mostly English subjects; the fact that Robert’s Continental view was included shows the high respect his work was held in.
And the price – 150 Guineas- was a small fortune for the artist, who was just getting established at the time.
Illustrated below is the print, as published.
The provenance trail for this original image goes cold at this point. In his latter years, Roberts wrote his ‘picture memoirs’, published after his death as ‘The Life of David Roberts’, describing and sketching the paintings he produced each year and who they sold to. There isn’t much for 1829, and it appears this work may have slipped his mind…. However, with the 1832 publication of the print, we have graphic evidence of its existance.
An article titled “The Annuals of Former Years”, published in “The Bookseller” December 24, 1858 reinforces the original painting’s importance at the time. . Here we find reference to the high prices paid by “The Literary Souvenir” for paintings they then engraved for publication, including “… one hundred and fifty guineas… was paid for .. the “Oberwesel” of David Roberts, by Goodall, executed for this work.”
How do we know it was this same oil?
A direct comparison shows the details to be almost identical with the 1831 print. One detail in particular is not found on other later versions of the scene by Roberts: the flags flying on the masts of the ships.
Although the print can’t show colour, clearly the engraver was looking at an image which included the French flag. This was a little contraversial – the region had been seized by France in the early 19th century, and when Roberts travelled through in the mid-1820’s was still somewhat contested. He included the French flags in this initial painting; subsequent works had no flags on the masts at all.
Moorabool Auctions is pleased to offer this recently discovered David Roberts work, part of their 10th of August Auction via Invaluable.
