The People of Gibraltar

1870s - James Web - Never left Chelsea

James R Webb, born in 1825, was a British artist who specialised in marine views and landscapes. He lived all his life in Chelsea and exhibited in London at the Royal Academy and the British Institute between 1850 and 1888. His works can still be viewed in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the Tate Gallery.  Interestingly Webb was a pupil of Clarkson Frederick Stanfield ( see LINK ) another artist with Gibraltar connections. 

Unfortunately as far as I know he only ever painted one picture of Gibraltar as shown below. Small but important inaccuracies in his rendering of the Rock itself suggest that he never left Chelsea to take a look for himself. The general angle of the eastern beach together with the Neutral Ground on its right is also suspect. 

The feluccas, however, and the large number of people on the beach - presumably Spanish fishermen - are all convincing and as they should be for the era.

Gibraltar

Detail