Robert Kemm stands as an intriguing figure within the landscape of 19th-century British art. Born in 1837 and passing away in 1895, his career unfolded during a period of significant artistic change and exploration in Victorian England. Primarily known as a painter, Kemm navigated the currents of Romanticism and emerging Realism, developing a body of work noted for its engagement with specific cultural milieus, particularly those of Spain and Portugal, as well as its observation of everyday life and social types.
His nationality was British, born specifically in Salisbury, England, in 1837. He died in London on October 16, 1895. While detailed records of his formal artistic training are not readily available from the provided information, his active career, particularly from the 1860s onwards, demonstrates a developed skill set in both oil and watercolour painting, alongside drawing techniques involving ink and chalk. Kemm's artistic identity is strongly linked to his travels and his keen eye for genre scenes, imbued with both romantic sensibility and realistic detail.
Early Career and Welsh Watercolours
Evidence points to Kemm being active as an artist from at least the 1860s. During this decade, he undertook a significant project documenting the interiors and exteriors of numerous churches throughout Wales. Executed in watercolour, these works hold particular historical importance. They were created before many of these structures underwent significant Victorian-era restorations, thus preserving a visual record of their earlier states.
This series of watercolours highlights Kemm's early proficiency in the medium and his aptitude for architectural rendering. It also suggests an interest in history, preservation, and the topographical tradition within British art, a lineage that includes artists like J.M.W. Turner in his earlier phases and numerous watercolourists dedicated to recording the national landscape and heritage. These Welsh studies demonstrate a careful observational skill that would later inform his genre paintings.
The Influence of Iberian Travels
A defining characteristic of Robert Kemm's artistic output was the profound impact of his travels to Spain and Portugal. Like many artists of his era, Kemm sought inspiration beyond British shores, drawn to the perceived exoticism, vibrant culture, and distinct light of the Iberian Peninsula. This fascination aligns with the broader 19th-century movement of Orientalism, where European artists explored themes and aesthetics from North Africa, the Middle East, and, for many British artists, the culturally distinct regions of Southern Europe like Spain.
His experiences in Spain and Portugal infused his work with a Romantic spirit. This is evident in his choice of subjects – bustling market scenes, intimate tavern interiors, dramatic cultural spectacles – and in the atmospheric quality he often brought to these depictions. The influence wasn't merely thematic; it shaped his artistic style, encouraging a richer palette at times and a focus on capturing the specific character and customs of the places he visited. Artists like John Phillip, known as "Phillip of Spain," built significant careers on similar explorations, bringing vivid scenes of Spanish life to British audiences. Kemm worked within this popular vein.
Artistic Style: Romanticism Meets Realism
Robert Kemm's style is often characterized as Romanticism, particularly due to the influence of his Iberian travels and his interest in evocative scenes. Romanticism in art emphasized emotion, individualism, and often a fascination with the exotic or the historical. Kemm's depictions of Spanish life, such as bullfighting scenes or lively cantinas, certainly tap into this sensibility, offering British viewers a glimpse into a world perceived as more passionate and less constrained than their own.
However, his work also displays strong elements of Realism. This is apparent in his detailed observation of people, their clothing, and their environments. His interest in depicting ordinary social types – vendors, peasants, fishermen, and women – aligns with the Realist movement's focus on contemporary life and the activities of the common person, as championed by artists like Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet in France, and finding echoes in British art through figures like William Powell Frith, known for his detailed panoramas of modern life.
Kemm seemed to operate at the intersection of these two major artistic currents. He used a Romantic lens to select and frame his subjects, often choosing scenes with inherent drama or cultural distinctiveness, but employed a Realist's eye for detail in their execution. His mediums varied, including oil on canvas, watercolour, ink, and white chalk, allowing him flexibility in capturing different effects, from the rich textures of oil paint to the fluid transparency of watercolour.
Themes and Subjects
The range of subjects tackled by Robert Kemm reflects his dual interest in the picturesque and the everyday. His Iberian works form a significant category, capturing the essence of Spanish and Portuguese culture as he perceived it. Titles like La Cantina and Seville Market suggest lively genre scenes, filled with local colour and activity. The depiction of vendors, such as in the suggested work Portrait of a Vendor before the Alhambra Palace, points to an interest in specific social types encountered during his travels.
His Bullfighter scene, noted as being worked up from a sketch held in a British collection, exemplifies his engagement with dramatic cultural spectacles. This theme was popular among artists visiting Spain, offering opportunities for dynamic compositions and explorations of tradition and ritual. It connected with a broader European fascination with Spain, also explored by French Romantics like Eugène Delacroix, though Delacroix's focus was often more on North Africa.
Beyond the Iberian focus, Kemm also painted scenes that appear more rooted in British or general European settings. Farnsammlerin (The Fern Gatherer), dated approximately to 1880, depicts a young girl in a landscape setting, carrying scrolls or possibly gathered ferns. This type of image, focusing on rural labour or solitary figures in nature, resonates with both Romantic landscape traditions and Realist depictions of peasant life. Works like Girl with Fishing Net further underscore his interest in portraying working people, possibly within a coastal setting, a common theme in British art.
The mention of potential religious or spiritual themes in his work – exploring inner peace through prayer and fasting, or reflecting on salvation and self-reflection – adds another dimension, though specific works illustrating these themes are not detailed in the provided context. If present, these would align with the strong moral and spiritual undercurrents often found in Victorian-era art. His earlier Welsh church watercolours also connect to this, documenting places of worship.
Representative Works
Several specific works help to illustrate Robert Kemm's artistic practice:
Girl with Fishing Net: An oil painting depicting a genre subject. Its appearance at auction with estimates between $3,000 and $5,000 indicates a level of market recognition for Kemm's work. The subject matter fits within the broader category of depicting coastal life and working figures.
Bullfighter scene: Executed in ink, watercolour, and white chalk, this work directly reflects his Spanish travels and interest in local customs. Being based on a sketch suggests a process of observation followed by studio refinement. Its dimensions (255 x 330 mm) indicate a work on paper, possibly intended as a finished piece or a detailed study.
Farnsammlerin (The Fern Gatherer): A larger oil painting (92 x 72 cm) dated circa 1880. This work places a figure within a landscape, suggesting a blend of genre and landscape painting, potentially with symbolic undertones related to nature or simple labour.
La Cantina: An oil painting of significant size (107 x 142 cm), depicting a Spanish tavern scene. This subject offered scope for portraying social interaction, local types, and atmospheric interiors, likely appealing to the Victorian taste for narrative and exotic genre scenes. Its auction starting price of €2,800 further confirms market activity.
Seville Market and Vendor before the Alhambra Palace: While details are scarce, these titles strongly suggest specific Spanish scenes, further cementing Kemm's reputation as a painter of Iberian life. They likely involved detailed depictions of crowds, goods, local architecture (like the Alhambra), and costumed figures, similar to works by contemporaries like the Spanish painter Mariano Fortuny, known for his dazzling technique and Orientalist subjects.
Welsh Church Watercolours: This series from the 1860s represents an important early phase of his work, showcasing his topographical skills and contributing a valuable historical record.
Context and Contemporaries
To fully appreciate Robert Kemm's contribution, it's helpful to place him within the context of his time. The Victorian era in Britain saw a diverse art scene. The Royal Academy was a dominant institution, and large narrative paintings, historical subjects, and scenes of modern life were popular. Kemm's work intersects with several trends.
His focus on genre scenes, particularly those with a social dimension, connects him to British Social Realists like Luke Fildes, Hubert von Herkomer, and Frank Holl, who depicted the lives of the poor and working classes, often with a strong sense of narrative and social commentary. While Kemm's Iberian scenes might seem more focused on the picturesque, his inclusion of vendors, peasants, and everyday settings shows a related interest in observing social strata.
His engagement with Spanish themes places him alongside other British artists who travelled south, most notably John Phillip. David Roberts, while more famous for his views of Egypt and the Holy Land, also travelled in Spain. Frederick Goodall was another prominent painter known for his Orientalist scenes, primarily set in Egypt. Kemm's work offered a British perspective on Spain, contributing to the Victorian fascination with foreign cultures. Compared to the later, sun-drenched paintings of Spain by Joaquín Sorolla, Kemm's work likely reflects an earlier, perhaps more tightly rendered Victorian aesthetic.
His blend of Romanticism and Realism was characteristic of much mid-to-late 19th-century art, where the emotional intensity of Romanticism gradually gave way to, or merged with, a greater emphasis on objective observation. Artists like Edwin Long also found success with large-scale historical and Orientalist subjects. Kemm's apparent focus on smaller-scale genre paintings and watercolours might have given him a distinct, if perhaps less prominent, position in the art market of the day.
Historical Position and Legacy
Robert Kemm occupies a specific niche within 19th-century British art. He is primarily recognized for his skillful depictions of Spanish and Portuguese life, contributing to the genre of Iberian-themed paintings popular in Victorian Britain. His work is valued for its blend of Romantic sensibility – capturing the atmosphere and perceived exoticism of the South – and Realist observation, evident in the detailed rendering of figures, costumes, and settings.
His paintings like La Cantina and Bullfighter scene serve as examples of this focus, providing insight into the cultural exchange and artistic tourism of the period. The documented auction results for works like Girl with Fishing Net and La Cantina indicate that his paintings retain value and interest in the art market today.
Furthermore, his early series of Welsh church watercolours holds distinct historical significance, preserving architectural records from the 1860s. This demonstrates a documentary aspect to his work alongside his more picturesque or narrative paintings.
While perhaps not achieving the widespread fame of some of his contemporaries like the leading Academicians or innovators like Turner, Robert Kemm's work is appreciated for its consistent quality, its specific thematic focus, and its contribution to the diverse tapestry of Victorian art. He remains a figure of interest for collectors and historians focused on British genre painting, Orientalism (in its broader sense including Spain), and the artistic representation of Iberian culture in the 19th century.
Conclusion
Robert Kemm (1837-1895) was a British artist whose career spanned a dynamic period in art history. Born in Salisbury and active primarily during the mid-to-late Victorian era, he developed a distinctive style that merged elements of Romanticism and Realism. His travels in Spain and Portugal were particularly influential, leading to a body of work rich in Iberian themes, from bustling market scenes and tavern interiors to dramatic bullfights. Works like La Cantina, Bullfighter scene, and Girl with Fishing Net showcase his skill in oil and watercolour and his interest in genre subjects and social observation. Alongside these, his early watercolours of Welsh churches provide an important historical record. Positioned within the context of contemporaries like John Phillip and the British Social Realists, Kemm carved out a niche appreciated for its cultural focus and detailed execution, leaving behind a legacy as a careful observer and skilled painter of his time.
