David Roberts

(Scottish, 1796-1864)

View of Lucerne, Switzerland, 1852

oil on panel

signed David Roberts and dated (lower left); signed, dated, and inscribed View of Lucerne, Switzerland To Christine on her Birthday June 4th 1852 By David Roberts RA and further indistinctly inscribed (on the reverse)

15 1/2 x 21 in. (39.4 x 53.4cm)

Property from the Collection of Raphael Yakoby, New York

This lot is located in Chicago.

Provenance:

The Artist

Gifted to Christine Bicknell (1821-1872), the Artist's daughter, 1852

Sold: Sotheby's, London, July 9, 1997, Lot 75

J.E. Safra, acquired from the above sale

Sold: Christie's, London, July 6, 2023, Lot 11

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Literature:

James Ballantine, The Life of David Roberts, R.A., London, 1866, p. 251, no. 175

Lot note:

In September 1851 Roberts embarked on a tour of Italy with his friend, Edmund Cotterell. They travelled first to Brussels, and thence through Germany to Switzerland. The Alps made a particular impression, and they lingered in Basel and Lucerne, where Roberts made a number of sketches. A watercolor of Lucerne with the mountains beyond is inscribed and dated 12 September 1851 (see Helen Guiterman and Briony Llewellyn, David Roberts, 1986, p. 124, no. 202).

Born in 1821, Christine was David Roberts's only child. The artist gave her many of his paintings, often on her birthday. Other works in her collection included Gibralatar from Ronda, 1853, The Sea of Galilee, 1850, and SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, 1861.

View of Lucerne, Switzerland, 1852

View of Lucerne, Switzerland, 1852