JOHN WEBBER, R.A. (LONDON 1751 - 1793)
Study of a man holding a stick
pencil on laid paper
230 x 140 mm

The son of a Swiss sculptor, born in London, Webber studied in Bern under J.L. Aberli who developed the picturesque style of topographical painting in Switzerland. After a period at the Académie Royale in Paris, Webber studied at the Royal Academy Schools, London in 1775 and exhibited there the following year, when his work impressed the botanist Dr Daniel Solander who recommended him to accompany Captain Cook on his third and last expedition to the South Seas. He sailed on HMS Resolution and made drawings of landscapes and everything else of interest throughout the voyage. The expedition visited Tasmania, New Zealand, the South Pacific and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and Icy Cape. Webber witnessed Cook’s death. The present sheet may date from his period of voyage on the Resolution.