Edwqard Lear, Medeenet Abou, Egypt.
Inscribed and dated ‘1856-19 Feby. tired out 3.p.m’, pen and ink. 20cm x 45cm (8in x 17.75in)
Provenance
Agnew’s, London, where bought by the mother of the present owners in 1966.
The present watercolour depicts the great 20th dynasty mortuary temple of Rameses III (c. 1182-1150 BC) and adjoining temples at Medinet Habu on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes (Luxor). To the right, behind the hills in the distance, lies the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings.
Edward Lear, The Caves of Beni Hassan, Egypt.
Inscribed and dated ‘11.30AM. Jany. 5. 1867’ extensively annotated, pen and ink and coloured wash. 13.5cm x 23cm (5.25in x 9in)
Edward Lear, Antrodoco, Italy.
Inscribed and dated August 14 1843, pen and ink and watercolour. 31cm x 45cm (12in x 17.75in)
Provenance
David Galleries, New York.
This watercolour relates to a lithograph in Lear’s Illustrated Excursions in Italy published in 1846. Queen Victoria was so impressed by this ambitious work of two volumes illustrating the artist’s travels through Italy in 1842-43 that she appointed Lear to give her a series of drawing lessons in the summer of 1846.
For 14th and 15th of August 1843 Lear notes ‘these two days I spent in sketching the town, and the pass up to the picturesque Madonna delle Grotte. The only chance for drawing is by rising before the sun, and making use of every moment of time until the heat (which in this valley is very great) obliges one to return to shelter. After the mid-day meal, which was a cheerful one enough, at the Casa Todeschini, sleep and music divided the hours until it was time to recommence drawing. The stillness of an Italian town during this period of the day is striking. Three or four children are playing with a tame sheep under my window, making a hundred pretty groups and pictures; the two widows are humming faintly to the guitar; all the rest of Antrodoco seems fast asleep. The magnificence of the pass just above the town towards evening is extreme: except in the creations of Titian or Giorgione, one seldom sees such hues of purple and blue and gold as those with which those lofty hills are clothed with in an Italian sunset.’ (Edward Lear, Illustrated Excursions in Italy, 1846, p. 58)
Edward Lear, Bordighera, Italy.
Inscribed and dated 1864, extensively annotated, pen and ink and coloured wash. 22cm x 33cm (8.5in x 13in)
Lear would have arrived in Bordighera, on the French-Italian border, in December 1864, returning from his walking tour along the Riviera to Genoa. He was drawn to the area in part because of its connection to Shelley, whose work Lear much admired. On the 30th of December he writes: ‘([glorious] clear morning.) […] The Hole d’Angleterre is vastly clean & nice: Cooking good, & W.C. best in all the Riviera. Joined the 4 horse Vettura, which G. had arranged with, & was off at 8. Uninteresting road from S. Remo – & next village. Railway workmen &c. Just before reaching Bordighera, at 9.15 – leave Vettura, & poke up queer lanes & into olive woods & palm gardens to find a “view”. Very beautiful semi oriental places, & Corfu-like groves of olives – which bewitched me – together with the bright sky – & I drew till 10.30. Came down the hill, & thereabout is one of the finest of all the Riviera “panoramas” – so drew again till 11, & did not get to the Hotel d’Angleterre till 11.30. “Neat” house. Capital breakfast – (6.20)[.] Looked at rooms: I fancy this would have been the nicest winter place of all. Off at 12.20 highly content. Hear, & pass Pifferari: & at 1 reach Ventimiglia, & leave carriage. Drew in river bed – mighty picturesque scene! […] 3.40. – Exit from Italy which I am vexed at.’
Edward Lear, Mountainous Landscape with Cedar.
Pen and ink and watercolour. 22cm x 45cm (8.5in x 17.75in).
Provenance
Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd., London, no.42586.
Edward Lear, Zante, Greece (1863?)
Inscribed and dated ‘Goats, 26 May, 5.50-6PM’ pen and ink and coloured wash.
Provenance
Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd, London, no.32056.
Edward Lear, View of Bonifacio, Corsica.
Watercolour, Signed with monogram, 4.75″ x 7.25″ (12.1 x 18.4cm).
Edward Lear, Petra.
Study, label on reverse, no apparent signature. 8-1/2 x 12 inches. Overall framed size 15 x 19 inches.
Edward Lear, Masada on the Dead Sea, circa 1858.
Signed with monogram (lower right). Watercolour with touches of bodycolour, heightened with gum arabic. 17 x 37.5cm
A larger painting by Lear, depicting the same viewpoint as the present work, is in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (1986.40). The oil on canvas, painted for Frances Elizabeth Anne (née Braham), Countess Waldegrave (1821-1879), was executed in 1858, when Lear first visited and painted the mount of Masada in Israel, located at the edge of the Judean Desert on the western shore of the Dead Sea. It is likely that this watercolour is of a similar date.
By Chichester Fortescue?
Bound into a copy of the eighth edition of Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense.
A Blog of Bosh 