Wady Mokatteb

1847

A journey through Calabria

In 1847 Lear travelled to southern Italy, to Calabria; he described his itinerary among breathtaking landscapes and often surreal characters in Journals of a Landscape Painter in Southern Calabria, whose Calabria section is thought to be among the best of his travel literature.

1848–1849

Albania, Macedonia, Egypt and Greece

In 1848–49 Lear visited Albania, Vardar Macedonia, Egypt (all then part of the Ottoman Empire) and Greece. On the way he produced large quantities of coloured wash drawings, which he later converted in his studio into oil and watercolour paintings and into prints for his books.

1849

Meets Franklin Lushington on Malta

In 1849 on Malta Lear met the young barrister Franklin Lushington and toured southern Greece with him. It was the most fervent and painful friendship of his life and lasted almost forty years, until Lear’s death; Lushington did not wholly reciprocate his feelings.

1851

Travel journals “Journals of a Landscape Painter in Albania”

In 1851 Lear’s travel journals, Journals of a Landscape Painter in Albania, etc., were published, a book on his journey through Albania.