Sartene, Corsica

Edward Lear (1812-1888)
Sartene, Corsica

Signed with monogram lower right and inscribed on the old backboard: Julian Goldsmid Esq.r/SARTÉNÉ. CORSICA/ SARTÉNÉ/ditto
Pen and brown ink and watercolour over pencil heightened with white and gum arabic
12 by 19.2 cm., 4 ¾ by 7 ½ in.

Provenance:
Sir Julian Goldsmid, Bart (1838-1896)

Engraved:
For Journal of a Landscape Painter in Corsica, 1870, pl. VII, opp. p.54

Lear's Journal of a Landscape Painter in Corsica records his trip to Corsica in the spring of 1868. His Journal entry for April 21 6 a.m. reads:

`After three days stay (and I could willingly remain here for as many weeks....) I leave Sartène.... Just above the town, where the high road to Bonifacio passes the Capuchin convent, there is the first view of Sartène and the mountains; the whole town stands out in a grand mass from the valley and heights, and there is something rough and feudal in its dark houses that places it architecture far above that of Ajaccio in a picturesque sense.'

Sir Julian Goldsmid owned an important collection of paintings, including works by Turner, Constable and Gainsborough, which were sold after his death at Christie's, on 13th June 1896. A full watercolour of this view by Lear was with Colnaghi's, London in 1976