Lot 1158 | The Old Rhine view of Groß St. Martin in Cologne

WEBB, JAMES
ca. 1825 - 1895 London


Title: The Old Rhine view of Groß St. Martin in Cologne.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Laid down on wood.
Measurement: 91 x 152,5cm.
Notation: Signed lower right: James Webb.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.
Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

James Webb is one of the classic representatives of English landscape painting and was a pupil of the famous painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield. In the course of his career, he specialised in harmonious coastal and harbour scenes. His works were exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institute, among others, and can still be found in both numerous London and international collections.
On his travels through Europe - from the Rhineland to Constantinople - he collected impressions and captured them atmospherically in his works.
The present painting, with its impressive lighting and rich figurative staffage in the foreground, shows just such an impression: the old Rhine harbour in Cologne can be seen with a view of Groß St. Martin, awakened in the early morning by the first rays of sunlight. The first ships have already unloaded their goods and are leaving the harbour, the traders are setting up their stalls, the men and women of the city are meeting and children are playing in the warming sunlight.