Edward Lear, A View of Corte, Corsica from the Road Leading to Bastia, May 19th-21st 1868.
Pencil, pen and ink with grey and brown washes on paper; signed with monogram “EL” lower left. 4.875 x 7.75 in — 12.1 x 19.7 cm.
Provenance
The Leger Galleries Limited, London, UK;
From whom purchased by the Private Collection, Hamilton, Ontario in 1985.
Literature
Edward Lear, “Journal of a Landscape Painter in Corsica”, London, 1870, p. 173, pl. XXIX.
Edward Lear left for Corsica on 8th April, 1868 in the company of the writer John Addington Symonds. Lear had originally intended to travel to Palestine, but decided to instead visit Corsica with the intention of publishing an illustrated journal. Afterwards Lear explored the island exhaustively, visiting the important town of Corte situated almost in the centre of the island between the 19th and 21st of May.
Edward Lear’s “Journal of a Landscape Painter in Corsica” was the last of Lear’s travel books and was where he adopted the technique of wood engraving to prepare the plates.
Thanks for bringing this and many previous auctions to my attention go to Stephen Duckworth.
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