Before the 19th century, most paintings of deserts were imaginary. Then artists started to paint them at first hand. Paintings up to 1864.
Lear
From Tivoli, near Rome, in 1757, through the Alps with Wolf and Turner, to remote Albania as seen by Edward Lear, artist and poet.
Edward Lear paints his visits to Palestine, Greece, Albania, and India, including a breathtaking view of Kangchenjunga from Darjeeling.
Once Britain’s foremost natural history artist, when he realised his eyesight was failing he turned to painting landscapes on his travels.
The first brush with autumn occurs when the hill and mountain tops change to white, as if dusted by icing sugar – the first thrill for children and skiers.
Some of the finest travel paintings of the century, covering areas which were still seldom visited, and ending with a spectacular view of the world’s 3rd highest mountain, Kangchenjunga.
Come travel through Europe and beyond in the magnificent watercolours painted by the author of ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’.
Why are there two tortoises in the foreground of Moreau’s ‘Orpheus’? After a journey through Zen Buddhism, fables, and political allegory, the answer may be more obvious.