Edward Lear

1812–1888

Edward Lear, ‘View of Jerusalem’ 1858 — View of Jerusalem 1858
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Biography

Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, and is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to illustrate birds and animals; making coloured drawings during his journeys, which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books; as a (minor) illustrator of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poems. As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes, and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry.

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Artworks

Edward Lear, ‘View of Jerusalem’ 1858

Edward Lear View of Jerusalem

1858

View by appointment N02797

Edward Lear, ‘Philates’ 1856

Edward Lear Philates

1856

View by appointment T01004

Edward Lear, ‘The Monastery of Simopetra on Mount Athos’ 1856

Edward Lear The Monastery of Simopetra on Mount Athos

1856

T03168

Edward Lear, ‘Galera’ 1842

Edward Lear Galera

1842

View by appointment N02749

Edward Lear, ‘View near Cairo’ 1858

Edward Lear View near Cairo

1858

N02752

Edward Lear, ‘The Sirens Isles’ 1844

Edward Lear The Sirens Isles

1844

N02750

Edward Lear, ‘The Fortress of San George, near Argostoli, Cephalonia’ 1848

Edward Lear The Fortress of San George, near Argostoli, Cephalonia

1848

View by appointment T03939

Edward Lear, ‘The Pyramids with the Sphinx and Palms’ 1858

Edward Lear The Pyramids with the Sphinx and Palms

1858

View by appointment N02796

Features

Press Release

British Comic Art

17 Sep 2009

British Comic Art: Press related to past exhibition.

David Roberts Ruins of the Great Temple of Karnak 1845

Tate Etc

Extraordinary scenes of beautifully arranged horrible wilderness: British Orientalist Painting

As Tate Britain mounts an exhibition of work by nineteenth-century Western artists who travelled east, Briony Llewellyn delves into the ...

Tate Etc. issue 13 magazine cover

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Tate Etc. issue 13: Summer 2008

TATE ETC Issue 13 Summer 2008: Visiting and revisiting Art, etcetera; online edition of Tate's magazine

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