Robert Salmon 1775-1844

With Mr David Nelson of Washington D.C. by 1969,
bequeathed to the present owner

There has never been within our recollection an exhibition in this city, which combined so much of deep interest, and instruction as that now made by the accomplished artist Robert Salmon.
-Boston Daily Advertiser, 25th June 1830 

Robert Salmon was born in Whitehaven, Cumbria but went onto live in London, Greenock and Liverpool before emigrating to Boston, Massachusetts in 1828.  Prior to this he travelled the United Kingdom and its coastline extensively.   He is without doubt one of the finest and most influential of British marine artists whose inspiration is clearly evident in the work of later Liverpool artists, Samuel Walters and Joseph Heard.  It is unclear whether Salmon had any formal artistic training but his surroundings, as well as family connections to the merchant Navy, provided unlimited exposure to the subject he would render so faithfully to canvas.  His move to the United States in 1828 could not have been more fortuitous as it coincided with the boom in Boston's maritime industry.

The present work was executed two years prior to that, in 1826.  Salmon numbered his works and kept a meticulous catalogue.  The original manuscript is sadly lost but a transcribed version survives and is held in the Boston Public Library.  In many cases, particuarly the early works, the catalogue entry records the artists's location when painting the picture rather than the subject or title of the work.  The present work, number 509, is recorded as in Lond.  The entry prior to this number 473 is listed as, begins 1826 in Greenock,  and the following entry, number 526, is listed as  begins 1827 in London implying a move to the capital late in the year.  The view in the present work however, is certainly Liverpool Harbour; the distinguishing features being the dome of St. Paul's to the North of the town and the Townsend Mill on the shore to the West. 

In his monograph on Salmon Professor John Wilmerding states,
'Almost all of the 118 paintings done between mid-1826 and mid-1828 were sold at auction a few years later in Boston'.  It is possible that the present work was one of this group.  Upon examination of the present work Professor Wilmerding noted that it is almost certainly a section of a larger composition.

We are extremely grateful to Sam Davidson for his assistance with cataloguing this work.