Edward Lear (1812-1888)

In December 1953 Lear reached Egypt on the S.S. Indus, landing in Cairo and making his way up the Nile at a leisurely pace with a group that he had met just after his arrival in the country. The letters that he sent to his sister at the time demonstrate how delighted he had become by the 'magnificent river' paying particular attention to the 'most beautiful feature...the number of boats, which look like gigantic moths' (V. Noakes, The Painter Edward Lear, London, 1991, p. 65).

For two other examples of Lear's work in Egypt see lots 48 and 49.