The Collection
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| Artist | Edward Lear (1812-1888) |
| Title | View of Beirut |
| Date | c.1861 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | height: 45.30 cm, width: 69.30 cm |
| Inscription | br: EL(monogram) |
| Acquisition | Purchased from the Leger Galleries, June 1953 |
| Location | Other, public exhibitions, |
| GAC number | 2150 |
Other works by this artist
 | Colombo, River Scene | Watercolour on paper 10 December 1874 GAC 10673 |
 | Rome, 15 December 1837 | Pencil, pen and ink and wash on paper 15 December 1837 GAC 1440 |
 | Cervara, 31 July 1839 | Pencil, pen and ink and sepia wash on paper 31 July 1839 GAC 1441 |
 | Therapia | Pencil, pen and brown ink and watercolour on paper 28 August 1848 GAC 17517 |
 | Ceylon Scenery | Oil on canvas GAC 1866 |
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Edward Lear made his only visit to Lebanon in May 1858, after spending two months in Palestine. He arrived in Beirut on 13 May and later described the city in a letter to his sister, Ann:
'This place is quite different from anything in southern Palestine - & reminds me more of Naples by its numerous villas & gardens, & the civil & gay people. I was only looking about me yesterday, but today I shall make a drawing of Mt. Lebanon, & the Bay & town - which are really lovely as a whole.'
From the drawings he made on the spot, Lear later produced several oil paintings of Beirut, showing the city from different viewpoints.
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This work contains the following subjects; choose a subject below to cross-refer to other works in the collection:
Similar works by subject:
orientalism
 | The Slave Market | Watercolour on paper 1842 GAC 1783 |
 | George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1788-18... | Oil on canvas 1813-1814 GAC 1976 |
 | Ibrahim Pasha (1789-1848) Egyptian General | Pencil and watercolour on paper GAC 3050 |
 | Chapel of the Annunciation, Nazareth | Watercolour and white hieghtening on paper ?1839 GAC 3703 |
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This work contains the following places; choose a place below to cross-refer to other works in the collection:
Similar works by place:
Lebanon
 | Temple of the Sun, Baalbec | Watercolour on paper 1839 GAC 5402 |
 | Port of Tyre, April 27th 1839 | Colour lithograph published 18 September 1843 GAC 12079 |
 | Tyre from the Isthmus, April 27th 1839 | Colour lithograph published 18 August 1843 GAC 12080 |
 | Cedars of Lebanon | Lithograph published 1841 GAC 15002 |
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Tab Label (see title)
Edward Lear, best known for nonsense verse and limericks, was also a topographical landscape painter, musician, travel writer, ornithological and natural history draughtsman and an illustrator. Largely self-taught as a painter, he began by drawing animals at Knowsley Hall menagerie; later moving to landscape painting. He lived in Italy from 1837 to 1848, returning briefly when Queen Victoria requested twelve drawing lessons. He later studied at the Royal Academy Schools (1850-51). In 1852 he was introduced to William Holman Hunt, whose paintings became a great influence. From the early 1860s, Lear’s reputation as a landscape painter declined, perhaps partly a result of the mass-produced watercolours he made, which he called ‘Tyrants’.