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Edward Lear

Garf Harbor, Malta, 1866

Description

Maker

Title

Garf Harbor, Malta

Year

1866

Medium

Watercolor and gouache applied with brush, ink and pen, and graphite

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

38.1 x 53.5 cm (15 x 21 1/16 inches)

Type

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

69.154.57

Projects & Publications

Publications

Selection II

British Watercolors and Drawings from the Museum's Collection

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

“Grisogorious Places”

September 14, 2012 - May 19, 2013

Lear made this sketch on his third trip to the Mediterranean island of Malta, during a lonely winter spent without companionship. Garf H́ásan (or Ghar Hasan ) refers to a large cave, just out of view in the picture, tied to a legend about a young man named Hasan who once hid there. Unlike Lear’s more typically distant views, the sketch features a massive, elongated cliff at close range, demarcated by quick, long pen strokes against the still water. Lear used the same blue for the water as for the shadows that cover the lower and distant reaches of the rocks.

Luminous Landscapes

May 27 - August 14, 2005

Lear may be best known today for his nonsense verses, but he was also an inspired and prolific landscape artist who even gave drawing lessons to Britain’s Queen Victoria. He traveled extensively, recording thousands of views, 52 of which are in the Museum’s collection. His work continued the 18th-century topographic practice of sketching on site (at the lower right he noted that it was drawn in an hour, “10-11 am 30 Jany 1866”) and coloring the work in pale washes in the studio according to notations made in the drawing. He also liked to finish the work by “penning out” and even reinforced his annotations in pen and ink using them as integral elements of a finished composition.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Garf Harbor, Malta with the accession number of 69.154.57. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.