Edward Lear, Hebron, figures and camels, the city beyond, c.1858.
Signed ‘Edward Lear del.’ l.l., inscribed ‘Hebron’ l.r., pen and ink and watercolour heightened with white. 15.4 x 23cm.
Provenance
With Leger Galleries, London, by December 1982.
Edward Lear travelled extensively around Europe, the near east and as far as India. He visited Hebron in April 1858, passing through Bethlehem en route to Petra. In a letter sent to Lady Waldrave on 27 May 1958 from Damascus, Lear discusses various compositional ideas for executing a painting for her. He says of Hebron: “….. there is Hebron, which is very particularly a Hewbrew antiquity, & is besides sufficiently picturesque to form a good picture: though why Abraham choose to live there I cannot think: I found it abominably cold & wet, & besides, they threw stones at me whenever I drew, so that I wished the whole population in Abraham’s bosom or elsewhere 20 times a day.”
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