Wesley Elbridge Webber (1841 - 1914) American
Watercolor on Paper
Measure 12 3/4"in H x 18"in W and 19 3/4"in H x 25"in W with frame
Known for: Marine, landscape, historical genre painting
Name variants: Elbridge Wesley Webber
Biography: Wesley Webber was born in Gardiner, Maine and became interested in art at an early age. About 1858 he went to Boston and was apprenticed for three years to J.C. Roberts of Haymarket Square, an ornamental sign and carriage painter. Webber entered the Sixteenth Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment in July 1862 and was reportedly the only artist on hand at the surrender of Lee's forces at Appomattox. He produces sketches of the surrender that were later published as lithographs in Harper's Weekly. He continued to paint scenes from the Civil War throughout his career. Webber exhibited frequently at the Boston Art Club, the New England Manufacturers and Mechanics Institute, Boston, and at the National Academy of Design, New York, and the Brooklyn Academy, Brooklyn, and the Peabody Museum, Salem, and the Portland Museum of Art, Portland. Webber maintained a studio in Boston from 1870 to 1889, and by 1892 he moved his studio to New York City. He was married twice, the first marriage ended due to his problem with alcohol. Soon after his death, in 1915, C.F. Libbie and Company of Boston held an auction of Webber's work. More than one hundred and forty of Webber's paintings were represented in this auction, including, in addition to his sought after seascapes, landscapes, were animal studies, depictions of the Civil War, and still lifes.