Presentation. 6th grade. Edward Lear

Edward Lear

Edward Lear: a great artist, a singer of nonsense

With the light hand of Edward Lear, the Limericks set out on their triumphant march around the world, establishing the canons of true English humor. Funny pentameters accompanied the drawings: long-nosed cranks, fat cats, dumbfounded owls ...

The illustrations were in keeping with the new genre of absurdity. And who would have thought that a serious artist, a virtuoso animalist and master of the landscape, would "slide" to such a level?

We tell about a wonderful artist who radiated warmth and good nature and managed to fill the world with charming paradoxes.

Edward Lear (1812 — 1888) was born in North London, the son of stockbroker

Jeremy Lear and his wife Ann Clark Skerret.

At a time when the main occupations

of women were home economics and

the birth of children, it was not surprising

that the future artist was the 20th child

in the family.

He turned out to be the youngest of the children who managed to survive in the age

of lack of antibiotics and vaccinations.

The economic turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars led to the collapse of the London Stock Exchange, which directly affected the welfare of the Lear family.

Taken care of by his older sister Ann,

the boy left his father's house at the age of 4.

Ann Lear, the oldest of the children,

was 25 years old at the time.

The younger brother became her favorite

child — she replaced Edward's mother

and remained by his side until her death.

Surely the conditions in which Lir's brother and sister lived were not

the most comfortable.

Family troubles weighed on the boy, adding

to the illness periods of depression

and melancholy.

But still, still… Like all children, Edward saw the beauty of the world, loved nature,

animals and birds.

Ann, along with her sister Sarah, taught her brother to draw and gave him an elementary home education.

The grain fell on fertile ground: the boy's eye was faithful, his hand was light, and already at the age of 16, young Lear earned

drawing for a piece of bread. “

At first I painted all sorts of unusual advertising drawings for shops, which I sold at prices ranging from ninepence to four shillings, painted engravings, fireplace screens and fans, and also made medical drawings for hospitals and private doctors," the artist recalled. His talent was recognized, and two years later Lear began his professional career.

In 1830, he applied to the Zoological Society of London for access to a collection of birds for the book Illustrations of the family Psittacidae, or Parrots

It was a self-conceived project — and Lear had just turned 18! Apparently, the young man was able to win over others and really had an amazing talent. The meeting of the Zoological Society of London, which considered Edward Lear's request, was presided over by Lord Stanley, later the 13th Earl of Derby, who from his youth had been passionately interested in books and drawings on natural history.

This June day in 1830 was a turning point in the fate of the aspiring artist-his project was supported, Lord Stanley invited Lear

to his estate in Knowsley Hall, where he kept a menagerie, and soon the young Edward became an associate member of the

Linnean Society.

William Derby. Portrait of Lord Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby

In the Victorian era, zoos were closed and owned by rich people (London Zoo, founded in 1828, opened to the public only in 1847), it was not easy

to get there.

Naturally, Edward Lear jumped at this tempting offer: where else can you see animals from all over the world and draw them from nature!

After finishing his book, Lear came to Knowsley, where he commissioned Lord Stanley to create a series of drawings of birds and animals from 1831 to 1837.

Relations with the patron Lord became increasingly friendly: Lear lived on the estate, painted (Stanley's menagerie was home to more than 1,200 birds

and more than 300 mammals-there was plenty to do!), and entertained the children of the Stanley family, the lord's grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

It was for them that he began to invent entertaining short poems, which later became the famous

"Book of Nonsense“ (1846)

As the Times wrote, "...there are two kinds of nonsense: there is boring nonsense that anyone can say or write, and there is clever nonsense, the amazing masters of which are Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear."

The artist called his poetic exercises "absurdities", or "meaningless rhymes" — "nonsense rhymes"; the name "limericks" appeared only by the end of the XIX century (it is associated with the Irish city of Limerick — the history of the origin is vague).

Agreeing to the first edition of Limericks, Lear, protecting his reputation and not knowing how the public would react, signed the book

as "Derry Down Derry".

Fears were in vain — both children and adults fell in love with entertaining poems with simple funny pictures, and the "Book of Nonsense"

has survived more than one edition.

Lear composed limericks all his life and continued

to publish picture books.

So the Book of Nonsense and More Nonsense (1862), Absurd Songs and Stories (1871), The Nonsense Alphabet and The Nonsense Botany (1888)

were published

It Edward Lear adopted the almost classical composition of Limerick, which is constructed according to the rules: in the first of the five lines be called a character, and the geographical location of its origin (for example — "Expansive lady lance" or "Lovely lady of the Atlantic"); the second tells the story of what happened to the character; — the first line rhymes with the fourth and fifth, the third rhymes with the fourth (scheme "AABBA") — - the third and fourth lines are one foot shorter than the others; - the endings of the first and last line

are the same

Needless to say, Edward Lear was ironic

in everything, and did not

spare himself either.

In correspondence with his young friend Chichester Fortescue, Lear reported that he intended to appeal to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Gladstone, to appoint him" The Supreme Peripatetic Ass

and Chief Gibberer " of England.

And a year later, he claimed the title of

"Lord Keeper of State Stupidity and Supreme Nonsense".

"The Book of Nonsense", aka "The Book of Nonsense", aka "The Book of Nonsense", despite the original, true English humor, has been translated into many languages and repeatedly illustrated by various artists

Edward Lear and his friend Chichester Fortescue, 1857.

But let's return to the artistic hypostasis of Lear.

As an outstanding ornithologist and

animal painter,

he worked closely with another famous ornithologist and artist, John Gould, and also taught his wife, Elizabeth Gould, the art of etching. Lear also worked on the series " Birds

of Europe "and" Toucans", created a series

of illustrations with turtles and British mammals.

After several years spent on the estate of Edward Stanley, the artist felt that his vision began to deteriorate, and the fine lines of the lithographs were no longer within his power.

Then he decided to become a landscape painter and entered the London Academy

of Art Henry Sass.

And then I went to Rome to improve my health, continue my art education and get new impressions.

Lear sent many of his paintings and drawings

to Lord Stanley.

His connection with this family was so strong that both the 14th and 15th Lords Stanley continued to acquire Lear's paintings

years later.

By the way, for a long time there were

rumors that it was Lord Stanley who was the true author of the "Book of Nonsense",

and "Edward Lear" was his pseudonym.

In particular, they relied on the fact that both men were named Edward, and also that the surname Lear (English — Lear) is ananagram

of the title "Earl" (English — Earl).

The version is interesting — but by

no means true.

Lear spent the entire year traveling, but only occasionally visited England-the wet weather of his homeland did not benefit his

fragile health.

In 1870, the artist finally decided to settle in Italy, his beloved sister Ann had already died, and nothing held him back in his homeland.

In the beautiful sunny resort town

of San Remo,

among palm trees and olive groves,

Lear built himself a new house and named

it after Tennyson's wife-"Villa Emily".

A few years later, the newly built hotel blocked Lear's beautiful view from the windows, he decided to move and built

a second villa nearby,

calling it "Villa Tennyson".

Though famous for his neologisms, Lear employed a number of other devices in his works in order

to defy reader expectations.

For example, "Cold Are The Crabs", adheres to the sonnet tradition until the dramatically

foreshortened last line. Limericks are invariably typeset as four plus one lines today, but Lear's limericks were published in

a variety of formats.

It appears that Lear wrote them in manuscript in as many lines as there was room for beneath

the picture.

In the first three editions most are typeset as, respectively, two, five, and three lines.

The cover of one edition bears an entire limerick

typeset in two lines:

There was an Old Derry down Derry,

who loved to see little folks merry; So he made them a book, and with laughter they shook at the fun of that Derry

down Derry. In Lear's limericks the first and last lines usually end with the same word rather than rhyming. For the most part they are truly nonsensical and devoid of any punch line or point. They are completely free of the

off-colour humour with which the verse

form is now associated.

A typical thematic element is the presence

of a callous and critical "they".

An example of a typical Lear limerick:

Lear's self-portrait in verse, How Pleasant

to know Mr. Lear, closes with

this stanza,

a reference to his own mortality

: He reads but he cannot speak Spanish, He cannot abide ginger-beer; Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish, How pleasant to know Mr. Lear! Five of Lear's limericks from the Book

of Nonsense, in the 1946

Italian translation

by Carlo Izzo, were set to music

for choir a cappella by Goffredo Petrassi, in 1952.

It seems that the "holy Nonsense" Lear in

a few decades crossed the Atlantic and reincarnated in another Edward-Gorey.

Along with the virtuoso mastery of drawing, the artists were united by

a love of absurdist style, cats and

a preference for male society to female.

Both were successful artists, both spent the rest of their days in seclusion.

And even the beards grew the same.

Edward Gorey not only illustrated Lear's books, but also considered him one of his teachers. Lear's work was inspired by Lewis Carroll and Daniel Harms, and his poems were adored by French surrealists.

In 1873, a new resident appeared in the Lear house — he became famous for tearing

up the artist's letters,

as well as stealing food from the table.

As you may have guessed, it was a small kitten that Edward Lear named Foss, and later drew more than once. It is said that when making the decision to make "Villa Tennyson" a copy of the first house, Edward Lear thereby expressed concern for the cat, so as not to" disorient "

the beloved pet.

The poor cat had lost half its tail — Lear's servant had cut it off, relying on superstitious tales that a cat with half a tail always found its way home.

This did not prevent Foss from living 17 years in love and bliss, and after the death of tabby was buried in the courtyard of the villa

with proper honors.

Lear made his last trip in 1873, going on a trip to India and the island of Ceylon.

He spent the rest of his life in San Remo, in the company of his beloved cat Foss.

His living room was decorated

with portraits of friends, and if one of them passed away, the artist moved the portrait to the bedroom. As time passed, the empty frames in the living room became more

and more numerous…

Edward Lear died on January 29, 1888,

at the age of 75, just two months after Foss.

Noting the great contribution of Lear to natural science, three birds were named in honor of the artist: the cockatoo-Lapochroa leari, the macaw-Anodorhynchus leari and the colorful parrot Platycercus leari. This is a serious admission.

But the "Book of Nonsense“ brought worldwide

fame to Lear.

Lear is buried in the Foce Cemetery in Sanremo.

On his headstone are inscribed these lines about Mount Tomohrit (Albania) from Tennyson’s

To E.L. [Edward Lear],

On His Travels in Greece:

Tomohrit, Athos, all things fair. With such a pencil, such a pen. You shadow forth to distant men, I read and felt that I was there.

The centenary of his death was marked in Britain

with a set of Royal Mail stamps in 1988 and

an exhibition at the Royal Academy.