John Webber (6 October 1751 – 29 May 1793) was an English artist who accompanied

Captain Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

on his third

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

expedition. He is best known for his images of

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Biography

Webber was born in London, educated in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

and studied painting at Paris. His father was Abraham Wäber, a Swiss sculptor who had moved to London, and changed his name to Webber before marrying a Mrs Mary Quant in 1744. Webber served as official artist on

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

's third voyage of discovery around the Pacific (1776–1780) aboard . At Adventure Bay in January 1777 he did drawings of "A Man of

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

" and "A Woman of Van Diemen's Land". He also did many drawings of scenes in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and the South Sea islands. On this voyage, during which Cook lost his life in a fight in Hawaii, Webber became the first European artist to make contact with Hawaii, then called the Sandwich Islands. He made numerous watercolour landscapes of the islands of

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

and

, and also portrayed many of the Hawaiian people. In April 1778, Captain Cook's ships ''Resolution'' and ''Discovery'' anchored at Ship Cove, in King George's Sound, now known as

Nootka Sound Nootka Sound () is a sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Pacific Northwest, historically known as King George's Sound. It separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island, part of the Canadian province of ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, Canada to refit. The crew took observations and recorded encounters with the local people. Webber made watercolour landscapes including "Resolution and Discovery in Ship Cove, 1778". His drawings and paintings were engraved for the British Admiralty's account of the expedition, which was published in 1784. Back in England in 1780 Webber exhibited around 50 works at

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

exhibitions between 1784 and 1792, and was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1785 and R.A. in 1791. Most of his work were landscapes. Sometimes figures were included as in "A Party from H.M.S. Resolution shooting sea horses", which was shown at the academy in 1784, and his "The Death of Captain Cook" became well known through an engraving of it. Another version of this picture is in the William Dixson gallery at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Collections

The Anchorage Museum of History and Art (Alaska), th
Museum of the Aleutians
(Alaska), the

Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1 ...

(Honolulu), the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single co ...

, the

Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and th ...

(Salem, Massachusetts), the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, the

Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a Historic house museum, house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and ...

(London), The National Maritime Museum (London), the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

, the

John Carter Brown Library The John Carter Brown Library is an independently funded research library of history and the humanities on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The library's rare book, manuscript, and map collections encompass a variety of ...

, and the

Mitchell Library (Australia) The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

are among the public collections holding works by John Webber.

Australia

Webber's art is held by a number of Australian institutions including the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

(''William Bligh'', c.1776, ''The Death of Captain Cook'' (engraving), 1784, and ''Portrait of Captain James Cook RN'', 1782); the

Australian National Maritime Museum The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a Australian government, federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After considering the idea of establishing a maritime museum, the federal government announced that a nation ...

(''View of Huaheine'', 1784); the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

(''A View in Otaheite Peha'', 1785); the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

(includes ''Sea Otter'', 1778, ''A Woman of Pulo Condore'', 1780, ''Portrait of Captain John Gore'', 1780, ''Poedua, Daughter of Orea, King of Ulietea, Society Islands'', 1782, ''Portrait of Captain James King'', 1782, ''A Dance in Otaheite'', 1784, ''A Woman of Van Diemen's Land'', 1784, ''A Chief of the Sandwich Islands'', 1787, and ''The Resolution Beating Through the Ice'', 1792,); the Dixson Library (includes ''An Opossum of Van Diemen's Land'', 1777, ''Red-tailed Tropic Bird'', 1777, and ''The Death of Captain Cook'', c.1781–83.); and the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

(''A Night Dance by Men, in Hapaee'', 1784, ''A Young Woman of the Sandwich Islands'', 1784, and ''A Man of Van Diemen's Land'', 1784.).

Works

File:John Webber's oil painting 'A Chief of the Sandwich Islands', 1787.jpg, 'A Chief of the Sandwich Islands' (oil), 1787, National Library of Australia File:John Webber's oil painting 'Abbey Mill, Shrewsbury'.jpg, 'Abbey Mill, Shrewsbury' (oil) File:John Webber - 'Kealakekua Bay and the village Kowroaa', 1779, ink, ink wash and watercolor.jpg, ''Kealakekua Bay and the Village Kowroaa'', 1779 ink wash and watercolor by John Webber,

File:FrauEaoo.jpg, John Webber's woman from Eaoo File:Tereoboo, King of Owyhee, bringing presents to Captain Cook by John Webber.jpg, John Webber's Tereoboo, King of Owyhee, bringing presents to Captain Cook 1784 File:Sea Otter.png, John Webber's Sea Otter File:John Webber - Portrait of Captain James Cook - Google Art Project.jpg, John Webber's Captain Cook, oil on canvas, 1776

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

NZ File:James Cook by John Webber.jpg, John Webber's James Cook, before 1793 File:John Webber - Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound - Google Art Project.jpg, Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound, 1788

File:Man of Nootka Sound.jpg, John Webber's Man of Nootka Sound File:Death of Captain Cook.jpg, John Webber's 'The Death of Captain Cook' File:Portrait of a Man of Prince William's Sound (Left); Portrait of A Woman of Prince William's Sound (Right).jpg File:The Inside of a House in Nootka Sound.jpg File:A Man of Oonalashka.jpg File:John Webber - Poedooa, the Daughter of Oree.jpg, A

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

n woman, painted in 1777 by John Webber

References

* Ellis, George R., ''Honolulu Academy of Arts, Selected Works'', Honolulu, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1990, 178, * Forbes, David W., ''Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and its People, 1778–1941'', Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1992, 15–85.

External links

*
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''Digitized works
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, John 1751 births 1793 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters English people of Swiss descent English explorers of North America Explorers of Alaska Participants in James Cook's voyages Painters from London Royal Academicians 18th-century English male artists

Biography

Collections

Australia

Works

See also

References

External links