Edward Lear
English, 1812–1888
Bagni di Lucca, 1861
Ink and watercolor over graphite on light blue paper
Gift of Dr. Herman B Wells, IUAM 86.37

Wells loved English watercolors and owned at least ten examples, most of which hung in his library in the Tenth Street House. “They may be good or they may simply be decorative,” he noted.

Some are both, such as this fine Italian view by Edward Lear, who remains better known for his nonsense verse than his painting. With a characteristic love of words, Lear scrawled color notes over his page to help him tint the drawing later, when he was at home. His artistic sensibility (and perhaps his teasing wit) emerges in moments when he overrode his own notations with alternate colors.

© 2001 Indiana University Art Museum
Send Comments and Suggestions to: iuam@indiana.edu

Photographs of artworks: Michael Cavanagh and Kevin Montague.
Photographs of Herman B Wells: Courtesy of IU Office of Communications and Marketing.