Live Auction 21459Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours
EDWARD LEAR (LONDON 1812-1888 SAN REMO)
Lot 142 PROPERTY FROM THE JOUKOWSKY COLLECTION

EDWARD LEAR (LONDON 1812-1888 SAN REMO)

A distant view of the Citadel of Corfu

Closed4 July 2023

Price Realised

GBP 9,450

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EDWARD LEAR (LONDON 1812-1888 SAN REMO)
A distant view of the Citadel of Corfu
signed, inscribed and dated 'Corfu./ Edward Lear. del/ 1856.' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour heightened with white
11 5/8 x 18 1/2 in. (29.5 x 47 cm.)

Mr Horsfall, by whom given to
Mrs. R.I.D. Pound, 1920's (†); Sotheby's, London, 19 November 1987, lot 167.
with Spink, London.

Specialist note

Edward Lear first visited Corfu briefly in 1848. Since 1814 the island had been a British Protectorate, with a large expatriate community. On this first visit he was overwhelmed by the beauty of the scenery. Writing to his sister Ann, he said: 'I wish I could give you any idea of the beauty of this island, it is really a Paradise' (V. Noakes, Edward Lear: The Life of a Wanderer, Stroud, 2006, p. 73). In 1855, looking for a place to escape the harshness of the English climate, he returned to Corfu and spent several winters living there, while his great friend Franklin Lushington (1823-1901) was Judge to the Supreme Court of Justice in the Ionian Islands.