<!-- Note: The following pages were redirects to Wesley_Webber before draftification: *Wesley Elbridge Webber --> {{Short description|American landscape and marine painter (1841–1914)}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Wesley Webber | honorific_suffix = | image = File:Wesley Webber - 8204b549f9.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = ''American Ships at Sea'', Wesley Webber | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = Wesley Elbridge Webber | birth_date = 1841 | birth_place = Gardiner, Maine, U.S. | baptised = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1914|11|04|1841|01|01}} | death_place = Wollaston, Massachusetts, U.S. | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | education = Self-taught | alma_mater = | known_for = Painting | notable_works = | style = | movement = Hudson River School, White Mountain art | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | father = | mother = | relatives = | family = | awards = | signature = File:1568-3-600x149.jpg | signature_type = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website = | module = }}
'''Wesley Elbridge Webber''' (1841 – November 4, 1914) was an American painter known for his marine scenes and landscapes, mainly those of the New England coast. He was a veteran of the American Civil War. His work is held in several major American institutions, including the Brooklyn Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum.
== Early life and Civil War service == Webber was born in Gardiner, Maine. While some sources cite his birth year as 1839,<ref name="WhiteMountain">{{cite web |title=Wesley Webber (1839-1914) |url=https://www.whitemountainart.com/about-3/artists/wesley-webber-1839-1914/ |website=White Mountain Art & Artists |access-date=May 7, 2026}}</ref> most records and museum entries indicate 1841.<ref name="Jinishian">{{cite web |title=Wesley Webber (1841-1914) |url=https://www.jrusselljinishiangallery.com/wesley-webber |website=J. Russell Jinishian Gallery |access-date=May 7, 2026}}</ref><ref name="Campbell1985_p199">{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Catherine H. |title=New Hampshire Scenery: Its Artists and Their Landscapes |publisher=New Hampshire Historical Society |year=1985 |isbn=978-0914659129 |page=199 |url=https://dn721704.ca.archive.org/0/items/newhampshirescen00slsn/newhampshirescen00slsn.pdf#page=395}}</ref><ref name="Fielding">{{cite book |last=Fielding |first=Mantle |editor-last=Opitz |editor-first=Glenn B. |title=Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers |publisher=Apollo Books |year=1986 |isbn=978-0938290049 |page=1006 |location=Poughkeepsie, N.Y.}}</ref><ref name="Benezit2006">{{cite book |title=Benezit Dictionary of Artists |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-977378-7 |url=https://www.oxfordartonline.com/benezit/view/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.001.0001/acref-9780199773787-e-00195096 |chapter=Webber, Wesley}}</ref>
During the American Civil War, Webber served in the 16th Maine Volunteer Infantry. He was present at the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House in 1865. His career was established by his Civil War scenes,<ref name="Fielding" /><ref name="Benezit2006" /> which brought him early recognition. His sketches from the surrender and his illustrations from the Civil War were shown at the Boston Art Club. His work was also published in ''Harper's Weekly'' and John Henry Bufford produced a lithograph from his civil war scenes.<ref name="Jinishian" />
== Career == Webber was discharged from service in 1865, and he worked as a carriage painter in Gardiner.<ref name="Jinishian" />
In 1890, Webber was exhibited at the National Academy of Design.<ref name="Campbell1985_p199"/> Webber maintained a studio in Pemberton Square, and he shared a Boston studio<ref name="Fielding" /><ref name="WebberObit1914">{{cite journal |title=Obituary: Wesley Webber |journal=American Art News |volume=13 |issue=5 |date=November 7, 1914 |page=4 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044108386251&seq=326 |publisher=American Art News, Inc. |access-date=May 19, 2026 |via=HathiTrust}}</ref> with marine painter William Pierce Stubbs. Webber also maintained a shared studio in New York.<ref name="WhiteMountain" /><ref name="Fielding" /><ref name="WebberObit1914"/> Webber's style is often associated with the Hudson River School. He frequently depicted the coastal scenery of Gloucester and Manchester-by-the-Sea. He would summer in Conway where he would paint the White Mountains in the White Mountain art style. John Joseph Enneking, Frank Henry Shapleigh and others would join him to paint.<ref name="WhiteMountain" />
== Collections == Webber's work is represented in numerous public collections, including: * Brooklyn Museum * Peabody Essex Museum * Portland Museum of Art * Boston Athenaeum
== Personal life and death == Webber struggled with alcoholism in his later career.<ref name="Jinishian" />
Webber died on November 4, 1914, in his daughter's house in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts.<ref name="WhiteMountain" /><ref name="Fielding"/><ref name="Benezit2006"/><ref name="WebberObit1914"/>
== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed" heights="180px"> File:Wesley Webber - 96645cbbb5.jpg|''Massachusetts/California/Maine'' File:Wesley Webber - 6e04feab7b.jpg|''Moonlight on Long Island Sound'' File:Wesley Webber - d4e4531a9b.jpg|''Spectacular painting of boats in harbor on a dreary night'' File:White Mountains by Wesley Elbridge Webber, 1870.jpg|''White Mountains'', 1870 </gallery>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, Wesley}} Category:1841 births Category:1914 deaths Category:People from Gardiner, Maine Category:American landscape painters Category:American marine artists Category:People of Maine in the American Civil War Category:Painters from Maine