Near Suez, evening, 15 January 1849 (43)

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Artist: Edward Lear (British, 1812–1888)
Medium: Watercolor with pen in brown ink over graphite on moderately thick, rough, beige wove paper
Size: Sheet: 5 1/4 x 9 1/8 inches (13.3 x 23.2 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Lear arrived in Egypt for the first time in 1849 after nine months spent traveling through the eastern Mediterranean. Although he found Cairo "so remarkable that I cannot describe it," Lear dismissed Suez as "a most stupid place, without any interest at all." Instead of focusing on the landscape, in these two sketches he captured anecdotal details of people and camels. Lear was particularly fascinated by camels, possibly reflecting his early work as an illustrator of natural history.

He wrote to his sister Anne: As for the camels themselves-I cannot say much for them; they are quite harmless & quiet, but seem the most odious beasts-except when they are moving. The sort of horrible way in which they growl & snarl if you go 6 feet near them-is quite frightful-& if you did not know them-you would suppose they were going to eat you. They do the same to their own masters the Arabs-& appear to have the most unsociable disposition in the world-even among themselves.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.