In the Bey's Garden

John Frederick Lewis

1865

Oil on canvas

143 x 105 cm.

Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library, Preston

The title indicates that this is a scene of a woman picking flowers in the provincial governor's garden, in the Middle East. However, the woman was identified by the sculptor Thomas Woolner as Lewis's wife, Marian (see Tromans 134, and 204, n. 23), and the scene may owe something to Lewis's garden in Surrey, where he worked up many preliminary sketches from his years in the Middle East. — Jacqueline Banerjee

  • Close-up of blue flowers
  • Orientalist painters
  • Review of "John Frederick Lewis: Facing Fame"

    • Image kindly provided by the Watts Gallery, for purposes of reviewing their exhibition, linked above. [Click on the image, and the detail, to enlarge both, and mouse over the text for links.]