- 13
Edward Lear British, 1812-1888
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
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Description
- Edward Lear
- Corfu from the Village of Ascension
- signed with initials l.r. and dated Corfu 1857 l.l.; inscribed Corfu from the village of Ascension/ painted for Mrs Empson by Edward Lear, 1857/ Mr. Dickenson/Please write this label on a /piece of paper - after the picture is framed and glazed/ on the back of it, at the top - as you have always done - and please/do the same to the other paintings sent with this - E.L. on the stretcher
- oil on canvas
- 34 by 55cm., 13½ by 21¾in.
Provenance
Mrs. Empson
Sale: Sotheby's London, 15 March 1983, lot 59
Sale: Sotheby's London, 6 November 1996, lot 289
Private Collection, Athens
Sale: Sotheby's London, 15 March 1983, lot 59
Sale: Sotheby's London, 6 November 1996, lot 289
Private Collection, Athens
Catalogue Note
Edward Lear lived in Corfu from 1855 to 1858. A number of his finest landscapes show the island's topography, and he worked up a group of drawings that he made there as plates for his book Views in the Ionian Islands (published in 1863).
The hillside above Ascension from which the present view was taken was one of his favorite places on the island, and the panorama of coast, sea and distant mountains that comes to view from that point occurs in various paintings and one of the plates in Views in the Ionian Islands. Lear described the landmarks seen in the present painting, in the accompanying text to the plate:
"Above [the village of Ascension] is a small chapel, near which the drawing was taken. Those who have frequented the "other side" (as the mainland is called on Corfu) will recognize the forms of the snowy Albanian hills: Mount Lykurski on the left and the Pass of Gardiki between it and the long range dividing the village of Arghyrokastro from Pelvino and Butrino. In front of these higher hills are those nearer Santa Quaranta and the still nearer and lower line of Butrino heights; while, quite to the left of the drawing, the last slope of Mt. San Salvador forms the narrow passage known as the North Channel. Immediately below this is the fortified island of Vido; and yet nearer the eye, a part of the city of Corfu, the Palace and Esplanade and the road town Kastrides. Then comes the Citadel, a more picturesque object can hardly exist - and the quiet bay of Kastrades. Thence, upward to the highest point over the foreground from which this beautiful scene is taken are the thick olive groves and cypresses of the hill of Ascension. Few prospects can be more truly exquisite than this."
The hillside above Ascension from which the present view was taken was one of his favorite places on the island, and the panorama of coast, sea and distant mountains that comes to view from that point occurs in various paintings and one of the plates in Views in the Ionian Islands. Lear described the landmarks seen in the present painting, in the accompanying text to the plate:
"Above [the village of Ascension] is a small chapel, near which the drawing was taken. Those who have frequented the "other side" (as the mainland is called on Corfu) will recognize the forms of the snowy Albanian hills: Mount Lykurski on the left and the Pass of Gardiki between it and the long range dividing the village of Arghyrokastro from Pelvino and Butrino. In front of these higher hills are those nearer Santa Quaranta and the still nearer and lower line of Butrino heights; while, quite to the left of the drawing, the last slope of Mt. San Salvador forms the narrow passage known as the North Channel. Immediately below this is the fortified island of Vido; and yet nearer the eye, a part of the city of Corfu, the Palace and Esplanade and the road town Kastrides. Then comes the Citadel, a more picturesque object can hardly exist - and the quiet bay of Kastrades. Thence, upward to the highest point over the foreground from which this beautiful scene is taken are the thick olive groves and cypresses of the hill of Ascension. Few prospects can be more truly exquisite than this."