Great Ormes Head, Near Liverpool (Primary Title)
Robert Salmon, British (active in the United States), ca. 1775 - ca. 1851 (Artist)
ROBERT SALMON British, active in America, ca. 1775–ca. 1851 Great Ormes Head, Near Liverpool, 1836 Oil on canvas James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin Collection, L . 2 015.13 .71 Robert Salmon, born in Whitehaven, England, occupied the majority of his professional life painting along the seashores of Britain and the United States. Though little is known of the artist’s early training, his carefully delineated portraits of ships and commercial fleets spreading their power and influence across the globe suggests a meticulous study of 17th- and 18th- century Dutch and English marine painting. An added debt to the French landscape painter Claude Lorraine is apparent in the diminutive figures and buildings that line the shore. In 1828 Salmon settled in Boston, painting this ambitious work from earlier sketches. He worked on it for “about 3 weeks,” a remarkable amount of time for the extremely prolific artist, who typically spent only a day or two on a single painting.
At lower right: R.Salmon / Boston 1836
On verso: R. Salmon Boston / 1836
The James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin Collection
Rawles, Susan J. and Christopher C. Oliver. "The James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin Collection of American Art: A Promise Fulfilled", (Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2015): p. 2-3.
Wilmerding, John. Robert Salmon: Painter of Ship and Shore (Salem: Peabody Museum of Salem, 1971): pp. 96, 100, no. 858.
Salmon, Robert. Catalogue of Robert Salmon's Pictures, 1828 to 1840. Transcript of Lost Original, (Boston Public Library, 1881) no. 858.
Wilmerding, John. Robert Salmon: Painter of Ship and Shore (Salem: Peabody Museum of Salem, 1971): pp. 96, 100, no. 858.
Salmon, Robert. Catalogue of Robert Salmon's Pictures, 1828 to 1840. Transcript of Lost Original, (Boston Public Library, 1881) no. 858.
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