Venosa
Artist: Edward Lear (British, 1812-1888)
Date: 1852
Dimensions:
H: 19 3/4 in. (50.2 cm); W: 32 3/8 in. (82.2 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1969.340
Label Text:
Though a successful author of whimsical books like A Book of Nonsense (1846) and composer of humorous songs like “The Owl and the Pussycat,” Edward Lear was a painter by profession. Self-taught, he specialized in landscapes and particularly enjoyed portraying views that were not commonly painted by others. The southern Italian city of Venosa, once an ancient Roman garrison town, was a bit off the beaten path in the 1800s, despite its picturesque medieval castle.
Lear painted Venosa under the tutelage of Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt (also in this gallery). Though 15 years Hunt’s senior, Lear sought the younger artist’s advice on the best way to paint oil paintings from the sketches he had made some years earlier in Italy. Hunt suggested the Pre-Raphaelite method of painting out-of-doors, using elements of the English countryside as substitutes for Italy. He also gave tips on Pre-Raphaelite techniques for color and conveying effects of light. Lear was pleased with the results, writing to Hunt that Venosa had turned out “wonderfully true and brilliant.”
Though a successful author of whimsical books like A Book of Nonsense (1846) and composer of humorous songs like “The Owl and the Pussycat,” Edward Lear was a painter by profession. Self-taught, he specialized in landscapes and particularly enjoyed portraying views that were not commonly painted by others. The southern Italian city of Venosa, once an ancient Roman garrison town, was a bit off the beaten path in the 1800s, despite its picturesque medieval castle.
Lear painted Venosa under the tutelage of Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt (also in this gallery). Though 15 years Hunt’s senior, Lear sought the younger artist’s advice on the best way to paint oil paintings from the sketches he had made some years earlier in Italy. Hunt suggested the Pre-Raphaelite method of painting out-of-doors, using elements of the English countryside as substitutes for Italy. He also gave tips on Pre-Raphaelite techniques for color and conveying effects of light. Lear was pleased with the results, writing to Hunt that Venosa had turned out “wonderfully true and brilliant.”
On view
In Collection(s)