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Robert Cleveley (1747,
File:Destruction of French fleet off the Nile.jpg, ''Destruction of French fleet off the Nile'' (1798) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
File:A view of Botany Bay robert cleveley.jpg, ''A view of Botany Bay'' (1789) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
File:View in Port Jackson Robert Cleveley.jpg, ''View in Port Jackson'' (1789) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
Biography and works
(National Maritime Museum, London)
Dictionary of National Biography entry
The Mariners' Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveley, Robert 1747 births 1809 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century English painters English watercolourists British marine artists People from Deptford 19th-century English male artists 18th-century English male artists
Robert Cleveley (1747, Deptford
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...
– 28 September 1809, Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
) was an English maritime painter.
His father and twin brother ( John Cleveley the Elder, c.1712–1777, and John Cleveley the Younger, 1747–1786) were also artists, with John the Younger (and possibly Robert too, to judge from his style) gaining some training in watercolour
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
s from Paul Sandby
Paul Sandby (1731 – 7 November 1809) was an English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768.
Life and work
Sandby wa ...
, previously a teacher at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Si ...
.
John the Elder had tried and failed to make a living in working in a dockyard, and so did Robert, as a caulker. However, mocked by other dockyard workers for wearing gloves whilst working, John did not enjoy his time there, giving it up and in 1770 volunteering for the navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...
as a clerk. His first service as a clerk was briefly under Captain William Locker (who acted as patron to artists probably known to John the Elder), then soon afterwards under Captain George Vandeput
Admiral of the Blue George Vandeput (died 14 March 1800) was an English naval officer, the illegitimate son of Sir George Vandeput, 2nd Baronet ( – 17 June 1784) and an unknown mother.
Naval career
He was a midshipman on board HMS ''Neptune'' ...
on his voyage in the ''Asia'' to the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...
and North America, during which time Vandeput became a lifelong friend. The ''Asia'' returned in 1777, and from then to the end of his life Robert followed a double career as purser
A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...
on board various ships stationed in the Home Fleet
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet.
Before the Fi ...
(though most probably exercising his functions through a deputy for some or all of the time) and as a marine painter. This meant he could exhibit his works as "Robert Cleveley of the Royal Navy".
First exhibiting at the Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...
in 1780, his specialism was naval battles (though he also produced pictures of royal naval occasions, such as his "View of the Fleet at Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshir ...
Saluting George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
at his Review
A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a content rating, ...
in 1793", now at the National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...
) and many of his works were reproduced as engravings. Like his brother John, he also exploited their brother James' presence as a carpenter on Captain Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
's third voyage to gain access to art produced on the voyage and to produce art to cash in on the popular demand for South Sea images (e.g. a 1789 print of ''A view of Botany Bay'').
He did, however, still make occasional voyages with Vandeput, such as when he served as ‘assistant to the clerk of the kitchen’ in the royal entourage when the royal yacht
A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often ...
''Princess Augusta'' (under Vandeput) took Prince William Henry, later Duke of Clarence
Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England.
The title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son ...
, to Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
in July and August 1783. This moving in royal circles later brought him an appointment as Marine Draughtsman, first to the Duke of Clarence and then to the Prince Regent
A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illnes ...
. He died in 1809 in Dover after accidentally falling down a cliff.
Gallery
Further reading
*External links
Biography and works
(National Maritime Museum, London)
Dictionary of National Biography entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveley, Robert 1747 births 1809 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century English painters English watercolourists British marine artists People from Deptford 19th-century English male artists 18th-century English male artists