- 281
Edward Lear
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 GBP
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Description
- Edward Lear
- Nile Boats Near Deir El Kadige, Noon
- signed twice with monogram (lower left); signed Edward Lear, dated 1871 and inscribed To be sent to George. F. Drummond. Esq./ 11. Wilton Crescent. Belgrave Sq on a label attached to the stretcher
- oil on canvas
- 24 by 47cm., 9½ by 18½in.
Provenance
Purchased from the artist by George F. Drummond Esq
Agnew's, London
Sotheby's, 15 March 1983, lot 58
Agnew's, London
Sotheby's, 15 March 1983, lot 58
Condition
Original canvas. There is a small repaired puncture hole to the lower centre visible from the reverse but not the front. Some craquelure and peripheral paint loss. Discoloured varnish and surface dirt.
Under ultraviolet light there are flecks of retouching in places, most signifcantly to the repair and some along lower edge.
Held in a gilt composition frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Before his first visit to Egypt, which occurred in 1849, Edward Lear had written to his friend Chichester Fortescue: ‘I strongly long to go to Egypt for the next winter as ever is, if so be as I can find a sufficiency of tin to allow of my passing 4 or 5 months there. I am quite crazy about Memphis & On & Isis & crocodiles and opthalmia & Nubians, and simoons & sorcerers, & sphingidoe. Seriously the contemplation of Egypt must fill the mind, the artistic mind I mean, with great food for rumination of long years.’ (Edward Lear, exhibition catalogue, Royal Academy, London, 1985, p.113) Lear was deeply impressed by the atmospheric effects that he observed, which were ‘so very bright – all the sky blue - & the earth light yellow or white’, and concluded: ‘Egypt is at least a land to learn colour in.’ He returned to Egypt on several occasions, and frequently treated subjects based on sketches he had made of the Nile and desert landscape. The present painting, from 1871, was probably done in San Remo where Lear was then living, and may be identical with one of his three Royal Academy exhibits of that year, which were given the titles On the Nile near Assiot, On the Nile, Nagàdeh, and On the Nile near Ballàs.