Edward Lear, Phyle, Attica, Greece.
Watercolour and bodycolour, heightened with gum arabic; signed with the artist’s monogram lower left. 165 by 260 mm; 6 1/2 by 10 1/2 in.
Provenance
Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Lord Houghton (1808-1885);
by descent to the present owner
Literature
Crewe House, London, Inventory, Vol. 2, 1913, p.56, in Lord Crewe’s Study;
An Inventory […] of Pictures at West Horsley Place, Surrey, The property of the Marquess of Crewe, 1938, p. 39
Edward Lear, Delphi.
Signed with monogram l.l. Watercolour. 12 by 19cm., 4¾ by 7½in.
Literature
Crewe House, London, Inventory, Vol. 2, 1913, p.56, in Lord Crewe’s Study;
An Inventory […] of Pictures at West Horsley Place, Surrey, The property of the Marquess of Crewe, 1938, p. 39
Edward Lear, A View of the Roman Campagna with Travellers Passing a Ruined Brick Tomb, an Aqueduct in the Distance.
Signed and dated lower left: E. Lear/ 1841. Oil on canvas. 9 by 39.7 cm.; 7 1/2 by 15 5/8 in.
Provenance
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945), Crewe Hall, Cheshire and later Crewe House, Curzon Street, London from circa 1901;
Thence by descent.
Literature
Crewe House, London, Inventory, vol. 2, 1914, p.89, Corridor from Entrance Hall to Staircase;
Manuscript Catalogue of Pictures at West Horsley, n.d., vol. 3, p. 68.
Edward Lear, Rome, A View of the Forum with the Temple of Venus.
Signed and dated lower left: 13 / E. Lear f. 1841. Oil on canvas. 27.3 by 37.5 cm.; 10 3/4 by 14 3/4 in.
Provenance
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945), Crewe Hall, Cheshire and later Crewe House, Curzon Street, London from circa 1901;
Thence by descent.
Literature
Crewe House, London, Inventory, vol. 2, 1914, p.90, Corridor from Entrance Hall to Staircase;
Manuscript Catalogue of Pictures at West Horsley, n.d., vol. 3, p.69.
Edward Lear, A View of the Roman Campagna, a Villa and Aqueduct in the Distance.
Signed lower left: E. Lear. Inscribed with inventory number lower right: 184 . Oil on canvas. 19 by 39.7 cm.; 7 1/2 by 15 5/8 in.
Provenance
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945), Crewe Hall, Cheshire and later Crewe House, Curzon Street, London from circa 1901;
Thence by descent.
Literature
Crewe House, London, Inventory, vol. 2, 1914, p.89, Corridor from Entrance Hall to Staircase;
Manuscript Catalogue of Pictures at West Horsley, n.d., vol. 3, p. 67.
Edward Lear, Rome, A View of the Forum from a Terrace.
Signed and dated lower right: 14 / E. Lear f. 1841. Oil on canvas. 27.3 by 37.4 cm.; 10 3/4 by 14 3/4 in.
Provenance
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945), Crewe Hall, Cheshire and later Crewe House, Curzon Street, London from circa 1901;
Thence by descent.
Literature
Crewe House, London, Inventory, vol. 2, 1914, p.90, Corridor from Entrance Hall to Staircase;
Manuscript Catalogue of Pictures at West Horsley, n.d., vol. 3, p. 70.
Edward Lear, From S. Giovanni in Laterano, 1839.
Signed and dated Edward Lear. del. 1839. lower left and inscribed with the title lower right. Pencil heightened with white on buff paper. 7 5/8 by 16 1/2 in. 19.4 by 41.9 cm.
Edward Lear, The Acropolis, Athens.
Pen and brown ink and watercolor, heightened with white on gray paper; inscribed, dated and numbered, lower right: athens – / 5.6. / 9 June. / 1848 / 9.
311 by 508 mm; 12 1/4 by 20 in.
After spending only three weeks in Corfu, the island Lear claimed to be a ‘Paradise’ to his sister Ann, he was invited to join the British Ambassador to Turkey, Sir Stratford Canning, and his wife, on their travels to Constantinople via Athens. Lear arrived in Athens in June 1849 and was instantly captivated by his surroundings, exclaiming to his sister ‘surely never was anything so magnificent…!’ He first visited the Acropolis on 4 June, but evidently made further visits during his time there, as is indicated by the dates on the present drawing. Lear illustrates the winding path down to the Acropolis, with numerous figures in the foreground. Standing in the centre of the view is the Frankish Tower, a fourteenth century addition to the Acropolis. In 1875, this tower was demolished, as part of a project initiated by Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890), a German pioneer in archaeology, who aimed to clear the Acropolis of post-Classical buildings. The project incited considerable criticism, and was even referred to as ‘pedantic barbarism’ by historian of Frankish Greece, William Miller.
Edward Lear, View of the Ponte Rotto, Rome.
Pencil, heightened with white; inscribed, signed and dated, lower right: Ponte Rotto Roma. / Edward Lear.del. 1839.
Provenance
Lord Stanley of Alderley,
thence by descent;
H.D. Lyon, London;
with Eugene Thaw, New York,
where acquired in 1976
Edward Lear, Goats in the Campagna, near Rome.
Black chalk, heightened with white; signed lower right: Edward Lear del. / Roma. 1839 .
