80 birds: Edward Lear and his ornithological lithographs

Edward Lear, British author of The Owl and the Pussycat and other comic children’s poems, was also an ornithological artist. He painted technically elaborate and accurate pictures of birds, mostly exotic birds.

His pictures contain both a male and a female of the bird, so that viewers can see the different coloured plumage and size for comparison. He set the standard for other artists of animalia and botanical prints.

Edward Lear (1812-1888) created 80 bird portraits for the naturalist John Gould between 1832-1836, from the age of 20, although he commenced sketches from the age of 18. The works were hand-coloured lithographs of birds ranging from coots and kestrels to owls and pheasants. He drew them from birds at the London Zoo.

He came from a large family – he was the 20th child of 21 children. For most of his life, he suffered from asthma and epilepsy.

These were on display in Dubai.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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