ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL FROM THE THAMES AT SUNSET
signed Webster lower right
oil on canvas
76.5 x 127.5cm (89.6 x 140.3cm framed)

Property from a Private Collection, North London

Provenance
Clive Lloyd (1920-2004), Gomshall Gallery, Godalming, Surrey
Purchased from the above by the present owner in 1968

George Webster’s magnificent painting of St Paul’s from near London Bridge is an atmospheric examination of late afternoon sun passing through the smog of the city. It is a particularly affecting window in to the bustle of the Thames as a busy commercial waterway. Boats are moored side by side, with sailors and dock workers hopping from one deck to the other. The work also gently references, with mention to paddle boats through the arch of the bridge, to impending transition to the age of steam, which was to have far reaching ramifications for the city and the world at large.

Although best known for his seascapes of sailing boats often in choppy waters which follow a familiar Dutch mould, Webster's atmospheric views of the Thames number among his most prized compositions, of which the present oil is especially large and striking. The artist followed in a long line of Thames river painters, the most illustrious being Canaletto; others included Thomas Luny and Samuel Scott. Like Webster, many made good use of the Thames' bridges for optimum pictorial effect, Canaletto's panoramic view of London seen through an arch of Westminster Bridge (private collection) with St Paul's in the distance being especially notable. In the present work Webster sets the transcendant glory of Wren's cathedral against the massive, implaccable horizontal back-lit form of the bridge in the middle distance to create a scene of both grandeur and drama.

Webster was a keen traveller, even visiting the west coast of Africa in the early 19th century. He exhibited his work at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists and the British institution.