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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:
Abu Simbel, 1:10 pm, 9 February 1867 (385)
Date:
1867
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor with pen and brown ink and gouache over graphite on thick, rough, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 3 7/16 x 9 7/8 inches (8.7 x 25.1 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in brown ink, lower left: "Abou Simbl 9 Feby. 1.10 PM 1867"; in brown ink, lower right: "(385)"; Verso: in graphite, upper left: "92 | up"; in graphite, center: "next above B"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Gift of Donald C. Gallup, Yale BA 1934, PhD 1939
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1997.7.210
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
cliffs | lake | landscape | monument | river | sand | sky | temples | water
Associated Places:
Abu Simbel | Africa | Egypt | Lake Nasser | Nile | Nubia
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:5260
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These watercolors depict the Sun Temple of Ramesses II, its fa~ade dominated by four monumental statues carved directly from the rock, each 65 feet high, depicting the universal sun gods: Ptah, Re-Harakhte, Amun-Re, and the deified Ramesses II himself. In a letter to his friend Lady Waldegrave on 9 March 1867, Lear wrote that Abu Simbel "took my breath away." In his diary, he wrote: "On deck til 1.30. Last memorials of Abou Simbl-(the position of which I certainly never saw given in any drawing-tho of near views many)." This series of three images captures, in almost filmic fashion, the drift of Lear down the Nile and the changing perspective on the monument the passing of time afforded. This site featured prominently on Victorians' itineraries for visiting Egypt, even though it required a trip up the Nile. In the 1960s the temples were relocated due to the construction of the Aswan dam.

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]

Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

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. [85], 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. 17, V 1879 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Scott Wilcox, Edward Lear and the art of travel, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2000, p. 96, no. 97, NJ18 L455 W55 2000 (YCBA) [YCBA]


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