John Frederick Lewis, RA, POWS, (British, 1804-1876)

Patio de los Arrayanes, Alhambra

Patio de los Arrayanes, Alhambra
inscribed and dated 'Alhambra Oct 26' (lower right); inscribed 'Patio de los/Arrayanes.' (lower left); indistinctly inscribed 'The house in front a blaze/of white. The reflection/perfect. Darken this for objects reflected' (upper right)
pencil and wash heightened with white, unframed
28 x 21cm (11 x 8 1/4in).

Provenance
Charles Baring Wall (1795-1853) Collection, UK.
Thomas Baring (1799-1873) Collection, UK (acquired from the above, his cousin).
Thence by descent.

John Frederick Lewis made a sequence of works of the Patio de los Arrayanes in the Alhambra, Granada. The present lot - dated October 26 - seems to be the first one, probably drawn on the spot, which he later worked in to a more complete version, intended for a lithograph (sold Christie's, London, 2 July 2013, lot 85). Lewis also depicted the courtyard from different viewpoints.

Details in the present lot, such as the flower pots, have been altered and in some instances removed for the lithograph. These changes are typical of Lewis and serve to highlight the spontaneity and immediacy of this version.

Lewis completed two sets of lithographs after his trip to Spain, printed in 1835 and 1836 respectively: Lewis's Sketches and Drawings, of the Alhambra, made during a Residence in Granada, in the Years 1833-4 and Lewis's Sketches of Spain & Spanish Character, made during his Tour in that Country, in the years 1833-4.

We are grateful to Briony Llewellyn for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.