Old Master and British Works on Paper

Old Master and British Works on Paper

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 231. The Court of the Lions from the Hall of Justice, Granada.

Property from a private Northern Irish collection

John Frederick Lewis, R.A.

The Court of the Lions from the Hall of Justice, Granada

Lot Closed

July 6, 02:29 PM GMT

Estimate

5,000 - 8,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from a private Northern Irish collection

John Frederick Lewis, R.A.

London 1804 - 1876 Walton-on-Thames

The Court of the Lions from the Hall of Justice, Granada


Watercolour over pencil, heightened with white on grey paper

374 by 273 mm

With The Fine Art Society, London, 1954;
sale, London, Sotheby's, 26 July 1961, lot 15, bt Agnew's,
with Agnew's, London;
Mrs Cecil Keith;
with Agnew's, London,
sale, London, Christie's, 8 June 2000, lot 159,
where acquired the father of the present owner  
Sussex, Worthing Art Gallery, English Watercolour Drawings from the Collection of Mrs Cecil Keith, 1963, no. 93;
London, Agnew's, The Watercolour Collection formed by Mrs Cecil Keith, May 1984, no. 72

Engraved:

W. Gauci, lithographed for J.F. Lewis' Sketches and Drawings of the Alhambra, 1835, pl. 20

Lewis set off for Spain in the summer of 1832, spending two months in Madrid before moving on in the autumn to Granada. He seems to have spent most of his time sketching in the Alhambra which captivated him. He was already planning the series of lithographs, Sketches and Drawings of the Alhambra, which was published in 1835 on his return to England.


On 12 November, he left Granada for Cordova and Seville, where he was to meet the amateur artist Richard Ford, who was to become a friend and important patron. He returned with Ford to Granada in the summer of 1833 and stayed with him there at the Casa Sanchez for several months.


Another drawing of this subject preparatory to the lithograph but of more horizontal format, in which the girl in the foreground is replaced by a man, was sold at Christie’s, London, 4 November 1975, lot 135.