Description
Watercolour heightened with bodycolour on grey paper
9.9 by 20.2cm, 3 3/4 by 8 inches
Lear visited Egypt and the Nile three times, in 1849, in late 1853 and in early 1867. His first recorded use of this monogram is in 1858 (see Vivien Noakes, Edward Lear 1812-1888, exhibition catalogue, 1985, p.205) and it suggests that this is a finished work produced in the studio rather than an on-the-spot sketch.
This work shows local people drawing water from the Nile to irrigate the surrounding area. The cliffs on the far bank of the Nile are reminiscent of those at Kasr-es-Saad (now Kasr-es-Saiyyad) which Lear described in a letter of 18th January 1854 to his sister Ann:
'Imagine immense cliffs, quite perpendicular about as high as St. Paul's & of yellow stone ' rising from the most exquisite meadows all along the river While below them are villages almost hidden in palms' (quoted in Vivien Noakes, Edward Lear 1812-1888, exhibition catalogue, 1985, p.155). Lear painted an oil of the subject in 1877 (see Noakes, op. cit., no.62, p.155).
Image Licence
All Rights Reserved
Image Credit
image © Guy Peppiatt Fine Art
Location
Al Qasr & as Sayyad, Egypt
Country
Egypt
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
Landscapes & Seascapes
