John Webber

Born in 1751 in London, John Webber was trained as an artist in Switzerland and Paris, before joining Captain James Cook at his request on his third voyage exploring the Pacific from 1776-1780. Webber was among the first to record the peoples of Alaska, Hawai’i and the Northwest Coast. His watercolours of his travels through the Pacific were turned into engravings for publication in Britain. Notably, he created the only eye-witness drawing of the death of Captain Cook in Hawai’i. Webber’s records show the people of the Pacific coast and islands before their lives were significantly altered by European contact, and are important historically. John Webber died in 1793 in London after being elected as a Royal Academician in 1791.