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Creator:
Edward Lear, born in London, England, 1812; active in England, Italy, and India; died in San Remo, Italy, 1888
Title:
Near Suez, evening, 15 January 1849 (43)
Date:
1849
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor with pen in brown ink over graphite on moderately thick, rough, beige wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 5 1/4 x 9 1/8 inches (13.3 x 23.2 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in pen with brown ink, lower left: "Near Suez | Evening"; in pen with brown ink, lower right: "43"; Verso: in graphite, lower center: 'D. Gallup"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Gift of Donald C. Gallup, Yale BA 1934, PhD 1939
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1997.7.52
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
camels (mammals) | desert | feed mechanisms | genre subject | men | robes | rocks (landforms) | saddles | sand | smoke | smokers | turbans
Associated Places:
Africa | Egypt | Suez
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:4912
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Lear arrived in Egypt for the first time in 1849 after nine months spent traveling through the eastern Mediterranean. Although he found Cairo "so remarkable that I cannot describe it," Lear dismissed Suez as "a most stupid place, without any interest at all." Instead of focusing on the landscape, in these two sketches he captured anecdotal details of people and camels. Lear was particularly fascinated by camels, possibly reflecting his early work as an illustrator of natural history. He wrote to his sister Anne: As for the camels themselves-I cannot say much for them; they are quite harmless & quiet, but seem the most odious beasts-except when they are moving. The sort of horrible way in which they growl & snarl if you go 6 feet near them-is quite frightful-& if you did not know them-you would suppose they were going to eat you. They do the same to their own masters the Arabs-& appear to have the most unsociable disposition in the world-even among themselves.

Gallery label for Lure of the East - British Orientalist Painting (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-02-07 - 2008-04-28)

Art in Focus : Blue (Yale Center for British Art, 2019-04-05 - 2019-08-11) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Edward Lear and the Art of Travel (Yale Center for British Art, 2000-09-20 - 2001-01-14) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

The lure of the east : British Orientalist painting: wall labels, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2008, p. [90], V 2577 (YCBA) V 2577 [YCBA]

The lure of the East, British orientalist painting, 1830-1925 , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2008, p. 16, V 1879 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Scott Wilcox, Edward Lear and the art of travel, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2000, p. 64, no. 36, NJ18 L455 W55 2000 (YCBA) [YCBA]


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