John Archibald (Arch) Webb

John Archibald (Arch) Webb RBA (1866-1947) was a British painter and illustrator who illustrated over 150 books.

He was the grandson of Archibald Webb (1792-1883) and the nephew of James Webb (1835-1895), both artists. He signed his work Arch Webb, or AW enclosed by a rectangular border in small drawings surrounded by with text. Some of his paintings (landscapes mainly) are signed Arch Webb RBA.

Webb was born in Kensington on 19 February 1866 to John Warburton Webb (1792-1869) and Eliza née Mitchell who had married less than a year earlier on 20 May 1865. Webb's grandfather, Archibald Webb (1792-1883), was an artist who specialised in marine scenes, his uncles Byron and James were also artists. His father died when Webb was three and his uncle James Webb adopted him, as shown in the 1871 census. His grandfather also lived with James.

It is not clear what training Webb had, but as both his uncle and grandfather were distinguished artists, they likely taught him. He may have spent some time in Holland, given that so many of his earliest paintings had Dutch themes, including Evening in Dordrecht, Dutch Coasters and Dordrecht.

He married Florence Charlotte Daniels, born on 11 February 1866, at Holy Trinity Church in South Hampstead, London on 21 February 1889. Both bride and groom were 23 years of age. The wedding announcement named him as Arch Webb and said that he was James Webb's adopted son. The 1891 census found the new couple living with the bride's parents. They had five children, one girl, Florence Mary Ellen (1891), and three boys: Henry James Frederick (1894); Robert John (1900); and Archibald David (1905). All of the children survived their parents.

Webb was exhibiting in London at age 18 in 1884. He was sometimes distinguished from his grandfather (who only died in 1883 at 91 years) with the suffix Junior. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1890, entitling him to use RBA after his name. He signed some of his paintings Arch Webb RBA. Webb seems to have stopped exhibiting in the mid-1890s.

His first book illustration may have been for The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Defoe. This reissue of the work was from publisher Ernest Nister of London. Webb, together with J. Finnemore and D. Thompson, illustrated this very beautifully printed and in every way luxurious edition.

Nister also brought out My Robinson Crusoe Story Book: retold for the little ones by L.L. Weedon with colour plates by an unidentified artist, and black and white drawings by Webb. 

Webb was popular as an illustrator for boys' adventure stories Webb illustrated around 150 books for a range of authors, either in first editions or reissues, including Harold Avery (1867-1943), R.M. Ballantyne (1825-1894), M.C. Barnard (1885-1968), Reginald Berkeley (1890-1935), Walter Besant (1836-1901), Tom Bevan (1868-1938), Joseph Bowes (1852-1928), F.S. Brereton (1872-1957), T.C. Bridges (1868-1944), E.L. Bryson, Harry Collingwood (1843-1922), James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), E.E. Cowper (1859-1933), Ridgwell Cullum (1867-1943), H.B. Davidson (1898-1998), Daniel Defoe (c.1659-1731), Charles Deslys (1821-1885), James Dixon (1882-1981), George Manville Fenn (1831-1909), John Finbarr, F.B. Forester (1864-1946), Henry Frowde (1841-1927), Charles and Mary Lamb (1775-1834), Dorothea Moore (1881-1993), E. Nesbit (1858-1924), Anna Sewell (1820-1878), R.L. Stevenson (1850-1894), Herbert Strang (1866-1958), H.G. Wells (1866-1946), and lots more.

Webb also illustrated annuals, part books and serials, including for Chums, the Boy's Own Paper, Young England, and The Strand Magazine.

Webb died at home of a heart attack on 23 January 1947, at 80 years of age. 

John Archibald Webb (Arch Webb) is not to be confused with Archibald Webb (1792-1883), or Archibald Bertram Webb (1887-1944).

Archibald Webb (1792-1883), Arch Webb's grandfather, was a painter, largely of maritime scenes, with two works in national collections in the UK and father to painter James Webb (1825-1895), Arch's uncle and adoptive father.

Archibald Bertram Webb (1887-1944), a wood engraver, poster and landscape painter who emigrated to Australia in 1915, but briefly returned to the UK in 1934. He signed his work A.B. Webb, and can be seen in his famous poster advertising Wales for the Great Western Railway. A.B. Webb was renowned for his depictions of the Australian landscape and his innovative use of woodcuts.

Unfortunately, John Archibald Webb and Archibald Bertram Webb are sometimes confused and the former's work is often attributed to the latter, even in reference books on illustrators, even though illustrations by Arch Webb were published in 1895, when A.B. Webb was only 8. Unfortunately, the confusion even extends to such sources as Peppin and Micklethwait, who not only ascribed Webb's book illustrations to W.B. Webb, but also illustrate the section with a drawing by Webb (clearly signed Arch Webb).