Live Auction 2535Old Master & Early British Drawings & Watercolors
Edward Lear (London 1812-1888 San Remo, Italy)
Lot 25

Edward Lear (London 1812-1888 San Remo, Italy)

A view of Florence with the Duomo in the distance

Closed26 January 2012

Price Realised

USD 17,500

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Edward Lear (London 1812-1888 San Remo, Italy)
A view of Florence with the Duomo in the distance
signed and dated 'Edward Lear. del./1839.' (lower right) and inscribed 'Firenze.' (lower left)
pencil, ochre wash, heightened with white (partly oxidized) on light green paper
9¼ x 13½ in. (23.4 x 34.2 cm.)

with Gooden & Fox, London, where acquired by Christian Peper, 1969.

Specialist note

In the spring of 1839 Lear left southern Italy on a walking tour towards Florence. Even during his early travels Lear displayed a restlessness - never staying in one place for more than a few months - that would characterize his career until the last decade of his life.

These early years in Italy were a period of unusual financial stability for the artist due in part to his growing number of students and from the sale of his topographical landscape drawings and the publication of two illustrated books on Italy, Views of Rome and its environs (1841), and Illustrated excursions in Italy (1846).