William Edward Webb Whitby, North Yorkshire

An original late 19th-century watercolour painting, William Edward Webb, Whitby, North Yorkshire.

A wonderfully fresh and loose watercolour view at Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast by marine artist William Edward Webb (1862–1903).

Webb is known for his free and atmospheric painting style, much influenced by J.M.W. Turner. This watercolour is full of light, capturing the iconic features of the Whitby landscape—the precipitously perched clifftop Abbey, and the West Pier, with its lighthouse built in 1858, designed to protect the harbour from flooding at the mouth of the River Esk, and providing refuge for the town's voyage-worn colliers.

Whitby had been central to the coal shipping industry since the beginning of the 18th century, with accounts of Whitby men sailing colliers across the North Sea, to the Baltics, the Low Countries, and even France and Germany.

By the late 19th century Whitby's great industries, including shipbuilding and whaling, sailworks and ropeworks, were in decline, but the arrival of the railway gave new hope for the town as a tourist destination.

William Webb travelled throughout the UK painting coastal and marine scenes around the main ports and harbours, at Whitby, Falmouth, Norfolk, Northumberland, Cardiff and on the Isle of Man and Guernsey. He sought to break away from the formalised tradition of 19th century painting, producing atmospheric scenes by adopting a rather loose technique with soft, warm colours and the skilful use of light and shade.

Webb's vision of Whitby here is one of calm, light and modernity, executed with free brushstrokes in a fresh palette, punctuated by tiny vibrant dabs of red and mint-green gouache.

In watercolour with gouache and scratching out on wove paper. Laid down on backing card with window cut verso.

Presented in a pale taupe / dark ivory window mount.

Provenance: Albany Gallery Collection