HUDSON, NY – Two oils by the Anglo American marine artist Robert Salmon, painted while he lived and worked in Scotland, were offered by Stair on April 25. His 1820 view of The Custom House Quay, Greenock and an 1818 painting titled The Pomona of Greenock Riding at Anchor hammered at $34,000 ($43,520 with buyer’s premium) and $28,000 ($35,840 with buyer’s premium), respectively.

Although Salmon (1775-1858) is often considered an American marine artist (he emigrated to Boston in 1828), he was born in the English port of Whitehaven and spent time working in both Liverpool, England and Greenock, Scotland in the 1810s and 1820s.

When he painted the local customs house in 1820, the handsome Georgian building was just two years old. Designed by Scottish architect William Burn (1789-1870) at a cost of £30,000, the building only ceased to be used as a customs and excise office in 2010. This 2ft 3in by 23in painting is the example illustrated in the 1971 book Robert Salmon, Painter of Ship and Shore by John Wilmerding. The work was estimated at $20,000-$30,000.

Salmon’s oeuvre displays a deep familiarity with sailing ships. Most adopt the traditional practice of showing the same vessel in at least two positions on the same canvas. The Pomona of Greenock Riding at Anchor is inscribed and dated 1818. Again measuring 2ft 3in by 23in, this work is pictured in Alan Granby’s A Yachtsman’s Eye, published in 2004, and appears to be the same canvas as the one offered at Sotheby’s Parke Bernet as part of the Paul Mellon (1907-1999) sale in 1981. It was estimated at $10,000-$15,000.

Both paintings were described as being in generally good condition, with craquelure, scattered inpainting, and some repaired tears.

In 1828, Salmon left Liverpool, arriving in Boston on New Year’s Day in 1829. During the growth of Boston Harbor in the first half of the century, Salmon painted the scene between 300-400 times. Salmon’s English period paintings are typically more modestly priced than those completed in North America.