Remains of the Temple of Osiris on the Island of Bigeh, Upper Egypt
Drawings Collection of Milton McGreevy, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, March 7-April 4, 1965, no. 97, as Ruins, Egypt.
Master Drawings from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, MO, September 22-December 3, 1989, unnumbered, as Ruins in Egypt.
Landscapes: Real and Imagined, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, May 24-November 30, 2008, no cat., as Ruins in Egypt.
Landscapes: Real and Imagined, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, August 16, 2014-February 22, 2015, no cat., as Ruins in Egypt.
John Frederick Lewis painted this panoramic view of ruins, with meticulously inscribed hieroglyphics and palm trees, for a British audience. At the time, Egypt was under French colonial rule and images like this contributed to a popular European narrative of an exotic and fantastical Middle East.
Lewis lived in Egypt from 1841-1851, carefully documenting the landscape and customs, including adopting the dress of an Egyptian nobleman, which today might be seen as cultural appropriation. Upon his return to London, he drew inspiration from this body of work for the rest of his life.
John Frederick Lewis (1805-1876), London, by 1876;
To his wife, Marian (née Harper, ca. 1826-1906) Lewis, London, by 1876-1906 [1];
Catalogue of water colour drawings from the collection of J. L. E. Erle Drax, Esq., deceased late of Cheltenham modern pictures and drawings, the property of Captain J. Norton, deceased late of 19 Elm Tree Road, N. W. ; drawings by J. F. Lewis, R. A. ..., pictures and drawings ... sale, Christie’s, London, May 24, 1909, lot 124, as Ruins in Upper Egypt;
Walker Galleries, Ltd., Harrogate, UK;
Purchased from P. and D. Colnaghi and Co., Ltd., London, by Milton McGreevy (1903-1980), Shawnee Mission, KS, 1963-1980;
Bequeathed by Milton McGreevy to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1981.
NOTES:
[1] John Frederick Lewis married Marian Harper on May 8, 1847
in Alexandria, Egypt. She often modeled for him once they returned to England.
“Drawings Collection of Milton McGreevy,” Bulletin (The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum) 4, no. 6 (March 7-April 4, 1965): 47, as Ruins, Egypt.
Roger Ward and Mark S. Weil, Master Drawings from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, exh. cat. (St. Louis, MO: Washington University Gallery of Art, 1989), 8, 54, (repro.), as Ruins in Egypt.
