David Roberts: Artist and Traveler
June 4 – August 27, 2022
Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
David Roberts, in collaboration with Louis Haghe, “The Great Temple of Aboo Simble (Abu Simbel), Nubia,” November 9, 1838, in “The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia,” vol. 4, 1842‒49, Royal Subscription Edition, hand-colored lithograph, sheet size 16 7/16 x 23 15/16 inches, image size 12 7/8 x 19 1/4 inches, collection of Ken and Linda Sheppard.
David Roberts (Scottish, 1796-1864) was a self-taught painter who rose from the depths of poverty and obscurity in Edinburgh to become one of the most celebrated artists and travelers of his generation, a member of the Royal Academy, and an artist whose work can be found in some of the most distinguished public and private collections in Europe and America. A highly ambitious and motivated artist who loved to travel, he is best known for “The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia,” a travelogue illustrated with 247 hand-colored and tinted lithographs that depicted the temples, tombs, churches, and important historical sites in Egypt and the Holy Land. These prints were produced with renowned lithographer Louis Haghe from sketches Roberts made during a nine-month trip to the region in 1838-39.
Roberts’s exquisitely rendered prints of the Middle East, as well as the prints of Moorish Spain that he made on a trip there a decade earlier, firmly established him as an important Orientalist painter and the most accomplished architectural and topographical painter of his day. In addition to appealing to the growing European and American appetite for travel to exotic places as well as the need to add veracity to the Bible, Roberts’s prints had a profound impact on the emerging fields of Egyptology and biblical archaeology.
Organized by Director John Olbrantz, who has been interested in Roberts’s work for forty-four years, the exhibition features 60 prints of Spain, Egypt, Nubia, and the Holy Land on loan from Ken and Linda Sheppard. The exhibition is supplemented by several watercolors by Roberts on loan from the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut and the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.
Ken Sheppard, an attorney and collector, is one of the foremost authorities on the life and art of David Roberts in the United States. Sheppard says, “By the time David Roberts embarked on his artistic career, ‘Egyptomania’ was in full flower in England, resulting in high demand for art depicting ancient Egyptian scenes. It is often said that a good work of art can transport the viewer to a different time and place. I have visited most of the scenes Roberts drew, and can say that without exception he caught not just the forms and shapes of the locations, but the spirit and feeling of the sites in a way that shines through even after the passage of 180 years.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a full-color, cloth covered book written by Olbrantz, chronicling Roberts’s career from his birth in 1796 to his death in 1864. The 152-page monograph includes an extensive essay by Olbrantz on Roberts’s life and career, and an introduction by collector Ken Sheppard. The book will retail for $45.
Exhibition Related Events
Members/VIP Opening Reception
Celebrating: David Roberts: Artist and Traveler
Saturday, June 4, 2022, 10 am - Noon
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Members and museum invited guests only
New Members are welcome to join at the event or online
Or by phone at 503-370-6855 or by email at museum-art@willamette.edu
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OPENING EXHIBITION
Free Admission Day
Saturday June 4, 2022
Noon - 5 p.m.
Special Exhibition Book Discount on June 4
Museum members will receive a 20% discount
Non-members will receive a 10% discount
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Lecture
David Roberts and the Golden Age of
Travel Lithography
Collector Ken Sheppard
Saturday, June 4, 2022
1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Paulus Lecture Hall (Room 201), Willamette University College of Law
245 Winter St. SE, Salem, OR
Free and open to the public
In conjunction with the David Roberts: Artist and Traveler exhibition, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University is pleased to present a lecture with collector Ken Sheppard.
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Book Signing
David Roberts: Artist and Traveler
Author John Olbrantz
Saturday, June 11, 2022 (Please note this is an updated date)
2:00-4:00 pm
Maribeth Collins Lobby
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Enjoy free museum admission from noon - 5 p.m.
Special Exhibition Book Discount on June 11
Museum members will receive a 20% discount
Non-members and WU Alumni will receive a 10% discount
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Gallery Talk
David Roberts: Artist and Traveler
Director and Exhibition Curator John Olbrantz
Tuesday, July 12
12:30—1:30 pm
Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery and Maribeth Collins Lobby
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
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Lecture
Egyptomania: From David Roberts to the Opera "Aida"
Dr. Allen James Fromherz
Thursday, Aug. 11 | 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Paulus Lecture Hall (Room 201), Willamette University College of Law
245 Winter St. SE, Salem, OR
Free and open to the public
In conjunction with the David Roberts: Artist and Traveler exhibition, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University is pleased to present a lecture with Dr. Allen James Fromherz, the Director of the Middle East Studies Center and a Professor of Mediterranean and Middle East History at Georgia State University in Atlanta. His lecture will explore how Egyptomania and the Middle East captivated and enthralled 19th century Europeans and had a profound influence on the arts and music of the time.
Musical Extra from "Aida" to Follow
This event will be followed by two representative arias from the famed opera Aida by Verdi, sung by European trained opera singer Rebecca Fromherz '14, an alumna of Willamette University.
Pre-lecture Complimentary Exhibition Viewing
The public is invited to view the David Roberts: Artist and Traveler exhibition between 5 pm and 7 pm at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art on August 11.
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Gallery Talk
David Roberts: Artist and Traveler
Director and Exhibition Curator John Olbrantz
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
12:30—1:30 pm
Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery and Maribeth Collins Lobby
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
360° Virtual Exhibition Experience
Although nothing replaces seeing this exhibition in person, we invite you to enjoy the following virtaul exhibition experiences. Part I features the first part of the exhibition in the Maribeth Collins Lobby, while Part II features the main exhibition space in the Henderson-Rubio Gallery.
PART I
PART II
|Financial Support
David Roberts: Artist and Traveler has been made possible by gifts from the Wyss Foundation, the Allan Rappaport Charitable Foundation, Nathan Good Architects, and several anonymousdonors; with funds from the HFMA Exhibition Fund and the Hallie Ford Exhibition Fund; by advertising support from The Oregonian/Oregon Live; and by general operating support grants from the City of Salem's Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.
