Study for Mehmet Ali Pasha

watercolor, gouache, black chalk, and graphiteJohn Frederick Lewis (British, 1805–1876)/c. 1844

Description

This drawing was a study for a larger watercolor (now at the Victoria and Albert Museum) of Mehmet Ali Pasha, considered by many as the "Father of Modern Egypt." While European travel to the Middle East burgeoned during the mid 19th century, John Frederick Lewis was more intrepid than most, living and painting in Cairo for a decade. Upon his return to England in 1851, he astonished London audiences with more than 600 watercolors that conjured an exotic world of sumptuous colors and textures articulated in painstaking detail.

Provenance

(sale, Bill Thomson, London, May/June 1986, no. 37); (Henry Strachey, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland OH); Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland OH

Dimensions

36.2 × 24.6 cm

Source

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Movement / Period

Drawings

Accession No

1986.78

Official Citations

[The Cleveland Museum of Art Official Record][Full Resolution Image]

Curatorial Affinity Stream

Continuing the Universe of John Frederick Lewis (British, 1805–1876)

Drawings • England, 19th century • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries

Continuous Discovery