Lear’s lens on India

On July 15, a lecture will dive into artist and nonsense poet Edward Lear’s travels in India

Across regions and generations, Edward Lear is perhaps best known for his nonsense poetry, including the popular classic limerick, The Owl And The Pussycat. But long before composing such pieces, Lear spent his early teens as a landscape artist, and through his travels and deep explorations around the world, had absorbed enough scenery to craft and create into illustrations and paintings.

A Book of Nonense, by Edward Lear. Pic courtesy/Dr Patrick Connor

In 1873, after a long journey through Italy, Greece, Albania and Egypt, Lear made his way to India. Under the East India Company’s rule, visiting India was easier for foreign travellers and with the aid of his old friend, a Viceroy, Lear embarked on a long journey that covered many cities including Agra, Varanasi, Gwalior, Delhi, Darjeeling and Mumbai. His travels across the subcontinent led to beautiful paintings, sketches and illustrations of monuments like the Taj Mahal, and mountain peaks like the Kanchenjunga.

Dr. Pheroza J Godrej

Tomorrow, at an interactive session by the Museum Society of Mumbai (MSM) in collaboration with the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya titled the Epic Mountains and Delhineations: The Travels of Edward Lear, Victorian Artist and Nonsense Poet, in India, Dr Patrick Connor, director of London’s Martyn Gregory Gallery, will host a 45-minute-long session, detailing Lear’s travels and the subsequent artwork that came from them. “Connor has done a detailed study on Lear, and he has conducted sessions with us in the past as well. This year, the focus will be on Lear. We’re happy that Lear has been chosen, as he was quite a character. I believe the session will touch upon his travels and a few of his limericks, since that’s what Lear was most known for,” says Dr Pheroza J Godrej, chairperson of MSM.

The session is free and interactive, with a question and answer round scheduled after the talk. Through the artworks, Connor is set to take participants through key moments in Lear’s travels, while also walking them through paintings themselves. 

On: July 15
Time: 5:30 pm 
Log on to: @museumsocietyofmumbai on Instagram to register

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