Charles Robertson

Charles Robertson was born in 1844, most likely in Liverpool, England, though the exact day and month of his birth are not recorded in available sources. He probably studied art in London, though the specific school or teacher is not documented in available sources.

Robertson made his exhibiting debut at the Royal Academy in London in 1863; the full extent of his later exhibiting there is not documented. In 1862 he traveled to Algeria, the first of several journeys to North Africa and the Levant that would supply material for his Orientalist subjects. He traveled to Turkey and the Holy Land in 1872, to Egypt and Tangiers in 1876, and undertook further extensive travel in 1889.

Early in his career Robertson worked mainly in oil as an Orientalist painter of bazaar and market scenes. As his practice matured he moved increasingly into watercolour and became known as well for English landscapes, particularly ports and harbours. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1885 and became a full member a few months before his death in 1891. He also served as Vice President of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, though the exact year of that office is not documented.

Robertson died on 10 November 1891 in Walton-on-Thames, England. A memorial exhibition of his Orientalist and English landscape watercolours was organized by the Fine Art Society in Bond Street, London, in 1892.

Robertson's Orientalist work drew contemporary critical attention for its density of detail, with period critics, including in The Saturday Review, noting a recurring concern in his Orientalist pictures: elaborate architectural and decorative surroundings that sometimes competed with, rather than supported, the human subjects. His death in 1891 was followed by a memorial exhibition of his drawings at the Fine Art Society in Bond Street in 1892. Art-historical accounts place him within the tradition of British Orientalists such as John Frederick Lewis and Frank Dillon, and note the parallel, secondary strand of his career as a watercolour painter of English coastal and harbour scenes.

Robertson's secondary market is active but sparsely documented in public sources. His work appears periodically at major auction houses, including Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams, as well as on aggregator platforms such as Invaluable, MutualArt, Artnet, and AskART. Named works that have come to market include The Wailing Wall, Jerusalem at Sotheby's, An Oriental Merchant at Christie's, and Market Scene, Cairo at Bonhams.

No single, fully documented all-time auction record, meaning a specific work with a confirmed title, hammer price, currency, auction house, and exact sale date, could be verified across the sources reviewed. MutualArt's artist summary states that realized prices have reached "up to 9,763 USD" for decorative arts and "up to 5,139 USD" for works on paper, but does not identify the underlying lot, so this figure should be read as a general market indicator rather than a confirmed record price. Collectors should treat any specific "record sale" claim for this artist with caution until it can be traced to a named lot with a visible hammer price.

There is no catalogue raisonne for Charles Robertson, and no current exclusive gallery or estate representation could be confirmed. His work circulates mainly through major auction houses and specialist Orientalist-art dealers, including Chris Beetles Gallery in London. Authentication in practice depends on saleroom expertise, the artist's monogram signature, and cross reference to his documented exhibition history with the Royal Watercolour Society and related societies. Because public price data for Robertson is thin and no single confirmed record sale could be verified, collectors should look closely at provenance and exhibition history for any individual work rather than relying on a general market benchmark.