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Lot Essay
DAVID ROBERTS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ARTISTS TO EMBARK UPON AN INDEPENDENT JOURNEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE 19TH CENTURY. HAVING STARTED HIS CAREER AS A PAINTER OF THEATRICAL SCENERY, PANORAMAS AND DIORAMAS, HE EXHIBITED FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH THE SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS IN 1824. IN 1830, ENCOURAGED BY HIS SUCCESSFUL EXHIBITIONS AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY, HE BECAME A FULL-TIME ARTIST AND LEFT THE THEATRE FOR GOOD, RETURNING ONLY TO DESIGN SCENERY FOR SEVERAL OF CHARLES DICKENS'S PRODUCTIONS. IN 1832, HE SPENT NEARLY A YEAR IN SPAIN, ALSO VISITING TANGIERS AND TETUAN. HE SAILED FOR EGYPT IN 1838, WHERE HE SPENT SEVERAL MONTHS SKETCHING, WRITING LETTERS AND DIARIES, AND EXPLORING THE ANCIENT TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF UPPER EGYPT AND NUBIA. AS LYNNE THORNTON WRITES: 'THE DEGREE OF DESOLATION AND SOLITUDE OF THESE EGYPTIAN RUINS DEEPLY IMPRESSED HIM...AND HE WAS IMMENSELY SUCCESSFUL IN COMMUNICATING HIS SENSE OF AWE, PARTICULARLY WHEN HE CHOSE A LOW VIEWPOINT TO EMPHASIZE THE SUPERHUMAN SCALE OF HIS SUBJECTS' (THE ORIENTALISTS. PAINTER-TRAVELLERS, PARIS, 1994, P. 155). IN FEBRUARY 1839, HE LEFT FOR SINAI, PETRA, JAFFA, JERUSALEM, NAZARETH, ST. JOHN OF ACRE, TYRE AND SIDON, THEN ON TO LEBANON AND, FINALLY, BAALBEC.
INTEREST IN BAALBEC DATES FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, WHEN THE FIRST EXPLORERS, SUCH AS MAUNDRELL AND POCOCKE IN THE 1730S, AND WOOD AND DAWKINS IN THE 1750S, VENTURED ON THE PERILOUS JOURNEY. CAROLINE BUGLER NOTES THAT: 'BY THE TIME ROBERTS WENT THERE IN 1839, BAALBEC WAS BECOMING A MORE COMMON DESTINATION FOR THOSE TOURISTS BRAVE ENOUGH TO RISK THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE TROUBLED SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE. HOWEVER, ROBERTS SAW HIMSELF AS FOLLOWING IN THE TRADITION OF THE EARLIER EXPLORERS...[HE] ARRIVED AT BAALBEC AND SET UP CAMP ON 2 MAY 1839, BUT UNFAVOURABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS - THE RAIN DRENCHED HIM AND HIS BEDDING AND BROUGHT ON A FEVER - CAUSED HIM TO SEEK REFUGE IN A NEARBY GREEK MONASTERY. HE WAS, HOWEVER, GREATLY REVIVED BY THE SPLENDOUR OF THE RUINS AND THE RICHNESS OF THEIR ORNAMENT. HE SPENT THE NEXT FEW DAYS MAKING A NUMBER OF STUDIES OF THE THREE TEMPLES FROM VARIOUS ANGLES, MANY OF WHICH WERE LATER USED AS THE BASIS FOR OIL PAINTINGS AND LITHOGRAPHS' (CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION THE ORIENTALISTS, DELACROIX TO MATISSE, ROYAL ACADEMY, LONDON, 1984, P. 224). ROBERTS' VIEW OF THE TEMPLE OF BACCHUS WAS ALSO IMMORTALISED IN GUSTAV BAUERFEIND'S FAMOUS OIL IN THE NEUE PINAKOTEK, MUNICH - THE DEBRIS OF THESE TEMPLES DEEPLY INSPIRED ROBERTS, WHO CELEBRATED THE MAGNIFICENT DECADENCE OF THE HELLENISTIC MONUMENT IN NUMEROUS SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS. AS ROBERTS HIMSELF COMMENTS IN HIS DIARY ENTRY FOR 4 MAY 1839: 'HAVE BEGUN MY STUDIES OF THE TEMPLE, OF THE MAGNIFICENCE OF WHICH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CONVEY ANY IDEA, EITHER BY PENCIL OR PEN. THE BEAUTY OF ITS FORM, THE EXQUISITE RICHNESS OF ITS ORNAMENT, AND THE VAST MAGNITUDE OF ITS DIMENSIONS, ARE ALTOGETHER UNPARALLELED.' (J. BALLANTINE, THE LIFE OF DAVID ROBERTS R.A., EDINBURGH, 1866, P. 138.)
RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN AT BAALBEC, EXHIBITED UNDER THAT TITLE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1861, APPEARS TO BE THE LAST OF EIGHTEEN OIL PAINTINGS BY ROBERTS OF THE TEMPLES AT BAALBEC SPANNING ALMOST HIS WHOLE CAREER AFTER HIS RETURN FROM THE NEAR EAST. TWO OTHERS ARE ALSO VIEWS OF THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE TEMPLE OF BACCHUS, WITH ITS PORTICO OF COLUMNS OF WHICH ONLY THREE REMAINED COMPLETE. ONE, ON PANEL, POSSIBLY DATED FROM THE 1840S, SHOWS A CLOSE-UP VIEW OF THE TEMPLE WITH THE FALLEN COLUMNS AND ARCHITRAVE OF THE PORTICO IN THE FOREGROUND (SOTHEBY'S, 9 JULY 1980 (72); EXHIBITED LONDON, LEIGHTON HOUSE, 1986, ROMANTIC LEBANON, NO. 59). THE OTHER, EXHIBITED AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1850, SHOWS A SLIGHTLY MORE DISTANT VIEW, WITH THE ARRIVAL OF A PARTY OF TRAVELLERS (SEE LONDON, BARBICAN ART GALLERY, 1986, DAVID ROBERTS, NO. 179, PL. 69 (COLOUR)). CONFUSION HAS ARISEN BECAUSE BOTH THESE PAINTINGS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE EASTERN PORTICO OF THE TEMPLE, PROBABLY DUE TO THE INCORRECT TITLE ON THE LITHOGRAPH THAT SHOWS THIS SIDE OF THE TEMPLE, PUBLISHED AS PL. 83, VOL. II OF ROBERTS'S HOLY LAND, 1843, AND ENTITLED RUINS OF THE EASTERN PORTICO OF THE TEMPLE OF BAALBEC.
JAMES BALLANTINE'S THE LIFE OF DAVID ROBERTS R.A. (PUBLISHED IN EDINBURGH, 1866, P. 209), REPRODUCES A SKETCH OF THE PRESENT WORK FROM ROBERTS'S RECORD BOOK. WITH THE SKETCH, IN ROBERTS'S OWN HAND, IS THE INSCRIPTION 'THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN AT BAALBEC, SYRIA'. THIS WAS PAINTED IN THREE WEEKS. BOUGHT BY DUNCAN DUNBAR FOR SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS. EXHIBITED AT THE R.A. 1861'. (THE PRICE OF SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS WAS EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE FOR A PICTURE IN THE EARLY 1860S, AND REFLECTS THE HIGH REGARD IN WHICH ROBERTS'S WORK WAS HELD.) THAT YEAR ROBERTS HAD WRITTEN TO HIS SON-IN-LAW, HENRY BICKNELL, 'BAALBEC - WILL BE A GRAND FINALE - AND TAKE ME BACK TO THE LEBANON, AND SYRIA -' (26 MARCH 1861). BOTH DUNBAR AND BALLANTINE WERE WELL ACQUAINTED WITH ROBERTS AS IS ATTESTED TO IN A DIARY ENTRY FOR 30 MAY 1861; 'DINED WITH ME TO-DAY DUNCAN DUNBAR,...JAMES BALLANTINE...AND HENRY BICKNELL' (IBID. P. 210). ANOTHER EARLY OWNER OF THE CURRENT WORK, HENRY MILNES RAIT, WAS MARRIED TO ROBERTS'S GRAND-DAUGHTER CHRISTINE BICKNELL.
ROBERTS'S ADVENTUROUS TOUR, WHICH LASTED ELEVEN MONTHS, WAS FULLY RECORDED IN HUNDREDS OF SKETCHES WHICH WERE USED AS A BASIS FOR HIS LITHOGRAPHS, PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1842 AND 1849 IN SIX ALBUMS ENTITLED THE HOLY LAND, SYRIA, IDUMEA, ARABIA, EGYPT & NUBIA. THESE ALBUMS MADE HIS FORTUNE, BEING THE MOST EXTENSIVE RECORDS OF THE HOLY LAND AND EGYPT TO BE PRESENTED TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC. FROM 1841, WHEN HE WAS ELECTED ROYAL ACADEMICIAN, ROBERTS WAS CELEBRATED AS ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT TOPOGRAPHICAL PAINTERS OF HIS TIME, CONTINUING TO PAINT NEAR EASTERN VIEWS UNTIL THE END OF HIS CAREER.
TO BE INCLUDED IN THE FORTHCOMING DAVID ROBERTS CATALOGUE RAISONNé BY HELEN GUITERMAN, BRIONY LLEWELLYN AND KRYSTYNA MATYJASZKIEWICZ.
WE ARE GRATEFUL TO BRIONY LLEWELLYN AND KRYSTYNA MATYJASZKIEWICZ FOR THE COMPARATIVE MATERIAL PROVIDED BY THEM FOR THIS CATALOGUE ENTRY.
INTEREST IN BAALBEC DATES FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, WHEN THE FIRST EXPLORERS, SUCH AS MAUNDRELL AND POCOCKE IN THE 1730S, AND WOOD AND DAWKINS IN THE 1750S, VENTURED ON THE PERILOUS JOURNEY. CAROLINE BUGLER NOTES THAT: 'BY THE TIME ROBERTS WENT THERE IN 1839, BAALBEC WAS BECOMING A MORE COMMON DESTINATION FOR THOSE TOURISTS BRAVE ENOUGH TO RISK THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE TROUBLED SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE. HOWEVER, ROBERTS SAW HIMSELF AS FOLLOWING IN THE TRADITION OF THE EARLIER EXPLORERS...[HE] ARRIVED AT BAALBEC AND SET UP CAMP ON 2 MAY 1839, BUT UNFAVOURABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS - THE RAIN DRENCHED HIM AND HIS BEDDING AND BROUGHT ON A FEVER - CAUSED HIM TO SEEK REFUGE IN A NEARBY GREEK MONASTERY. HE WAS, HOWEVER, GREATLY REVIVED BY THE SPLENDOUR OF THE RUINS AND THE RICHNESS OF THEIR ORNAMENT. HE SPENT THE NEXT FEW DAYS MAKING A NUMBER OF STUDIES OF THE THREE TEMPLES FROM VARIOUS ANGLES, MANY OF WHICH WERE LATER USED AS THE BASIS FOR OIL PAINTINGS AND LITHOGRAPHS' (CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION THE ORIENTALISTS, DELACROIX TO MATISSE, ROYAL ACADEMY, LONDON, 1984, P. 224). ROBERTS' VIEW OF THE TEMPLE OF BACCHUS WAS ALSO IMMORTALISED IN GUSTAV BAUERFEIND'S FAMOUS OIL IN THE NEUE PINAKOTEK, MUNICH - THE DEBRIS OF THESE TEMPLES DEEPLY INSPIRED ROBERTS, WHO CELEBRATED THE MAGNIFICENT DECADENCE OF THE HELLENISTIC MONUMENT IN NUMEROUS SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS. AS ROBERTS HIMSELF COMMENTS IN HIS DIARY ENTRY FOR 4 MAY 1839: 'HAVE BEGUN MY STUDIES OF THE TEMPLE, OF THE MAGNIFICENCE OF WHICH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CONVEY ANY IDEA, EITHER BY PENCIL OR PEN. THE BEAUTY OF ITS FORM, THE EXQUISITE RICHNESS OF ITS ORNAMENT, AND THE VAST MAGNITUDE OF ITS DIMENSIONS, ARE ALTOGETHER UNPARALLELED.' (J. BALLANTINE, THE LIFE OF DAVID ROBERTS R.A., EDINBURGH, 1866, P. 138.)
RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN AT BAALBEC, EXHIBITED UNDER THAT TITLE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1861, APPEARS TO BE THE LAST OF EIGHTEEN OIL PAINTINGS BY ROBERTS OF THE TEMPLES AT BAALBEC SPANNING ALMOST HIS WHOLE CAREER AFTER HIS RETURN FROM THE NEAR EAST. TWO OTHERS ARE ALSO VIEWS OF THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE TEMPLE OF BACCHUS, WITH ITS PORTICO OF COLUMNS OF WHICH ONLY THREE REMAINED COMPLETE. ONE, ON PANEL, POSSIBLY DATED FROM THE 1840S, SHOWS A CLOSE-UP VIEW OF THE TEMPLE WITH THE FALLEN COLUMNS AND ARCHITRAVE OF THE PORTICO IN THE FOREGROUND (SOTHEBY'S, 9 JULY 1980 (72); EXHIBITED LONDON, LEIGHTON HOUSE, 1986, ROMANTIC LEBANON, NO. 59). THE OTHER, EXHIBITED AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1850, SHOWS A SLIGHTLY MORE DISTANT VIEW, WITH THE ARRIVAL OF A PARTY OF TRAVELLERS (SEE LONDON, BARBICAN ART GALLERY, 1986, DAVID ROBERTS, NO. 179, PL. 69 (COLOUR)). CONFUSION HAS ARISEN BECAUSE BOTH THESE PAINTINGS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE EASTERN PORTICO OF THE TEMPLE, PROBABLY DUE TO THE INCORRECT TITLE ON THE LITHOGRAPH THAT SHOWS THIS SIDE OF THE TEMPLE, PUBLISHED AS PL. 83, VOL. II OF ROBERTS'S HOLY LAND, 1843, AND ENTITLED RUINS OF THE EASTERN PORTICO OF THE TEMPLE OF BAALBEC.
JAMES BALLANTINE'S THE LIFE OF DAVID ROBERTS R.A. (PUBLISHED IN EDINBURGH, 1866, P. 209), REPRODUCES A SKETCH OF THE PRESENT WORK FROM ROBERTS'S RECORD BOOK. WITH THE SKETCH, IN ROBERTS'S OWN HAND, IS THE INSCRIPTION 'THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN AT BAALBEC, SYRIA'. THIS WAS PAINTED IN THREE WEEKS. BOUGHT BY DUNCAN DUNBAR FOR SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS. EXHIBITED AT THE R.A. 1861'. (THE PRICE OF SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS WAS EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE FOR A PICTURE IN THE EARLY 1860S, AND REFLECTS THE HIGH REGARD IN WHICH ROBERTS'S WORK WAS HELD.) THAT YEAR ROBERTS HAD WRITTEN TO HIS SON-IN-LAW, HENRY BICKNELL, 'BAALBEC - WILL BE A GRAND FINALE - AND TAKE ME BACK TO THE LEBANON, AND SYRIA -' (26 MARCH 1861). BOTH DUNBAR AND BALLANTINE WERE WELL ACQUAINTED WITH ROBERTS AS IS ATTESTED TO IN A DIARY ENTRY FOR 30 MAY 1861; 'DINED WITH ME TO-DAY DUNCAN DUNBAR,...JAMES BALLANTINE...AND HENRY BICKNELL' (IBID. P. 210). ANOTHER EARLY OWNER OF THE CURRENT WORK, HENRY MILNES RAIT, WAS MARRIED TO ROBERTS'S GRAND-DAUGHTER CHRISTINE BICKNELL.
ROBERTS'S ADVENTUROUS TOUR, WHICH LASTED ELEVEN MONTHS, WAS FULLY RECORDED IN HUNDREDS OF SKETCHES WHICH WERE USED AS A BASIS FOR HIS LITHOGRAPHS, PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1842 AND 1849 IN SIX ALBUMS ENTITLED THE HOLY LAND, SYRIA, IDUMEA, ARABIA, EGYPT & NUBIA. THESE ALBUMS MADE HIS FORTUNE, BEING THE MOST EXTENSIVE RECORDS OF THE HOLY LAND AND EGYPT TO BE PRESENTED TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC. FROM 1841, WHEN HE WAS ELECTED ROYAL ACADEMICIAN, ROBERTS WAS CELEBRATED AS ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT TOPOGRAPHICAL PAINTERS OF HIS TIME, CONTINUING TO PAINT NEAR EASTERN VIEWS UNTIL THE END OF HIS CAREER.
TO BE INCLUDED IN THE FORTHCOMING DAVID ROBERTS CATALOGUE RAISONNé BY HELEN GUITERMAN, BRIONY LLEWELLYN AND KRYSTYNA MATYJASZKIEWICZ.
WE ARE GRATEFUL TO BRIONY LLEWELLYN AND KRYSTYNA MATYJASZKIEWICZ FOR THE COMPARATIVE MATERIAL PROVIDED BY THEM FOR THIS CATALOGUE ENTRY.