About this artwork

Although now best known for his nonsense verse, such as ‘The Owl and the Pussy-Cat’, Edward Lear was an outstanding landscape artist and travel writer. Lear travelled to Corfu for the first time in April 1848 at the invitation of his friend George Bowen. He wrote to his sister Ann on 14 May, ‘I wish I could give you any idea of the beauty of this island – it really is a Paradise’. This unusual round format watercolour shows the double crowned fortress of Corfu town in the distance, with the Albanian mountains beyond. Lear returned to paint this view again and again.

Updated before 2020

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Edward Lear

Edward Lear