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Hardwar, India
by Edward Lear
About the Artwork
Known for his limericks and nonsense rhymes, such as The Owl and the Pussycat, Edward Lear was primarily a landscape painter. In 1848, he left Europe for extensive explorations to the Mediterranean, the Levant, and Southeast Asia, making drawings of the landscapes along the way. He reached Hardiwar (alt. spelling Hardwar), located northeast of Delhi on the right bank of the Ganges where the river exits the Himalayan foothills, on April 2, 1874. This finished watercolor was made a year after his visit, based on his on-site sketches and assiduous notes. He depicted the vibrant mass of people on the stairway to the Ganges from across the river and the majestic mountains beyond.
Inscriptions
Signed with monogram l.l. and dated 1875
Provenance
Lady d’Avigdor Goldsmid Caroline Stroude Francis Sitwell (1935-2004) By descent at Weston Hall, Northamptonshire until 2021 2021–23: (Karen Taylor Fine Art, London, England), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH September 11, 2023–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Edward Lear (British, 1812–1888)
- Date
- 1875
- Medium
- Watecolor over pencil, heightened with white
- Dimensions
- Matted: 40.6 x 54.1 cm (16 x 21 5/16 in.); Sheet: 25.4 x 39.7 cm (10 x 15 5/8 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Delia E. Holden Fund
- Accession no.
- 2023.127
More by Edward Lear in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011350
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