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Head of a lion

Maker

(artist)
1802-1873

Title

Head of a lion

Date of Production

(circa) 1862

Medium

graphite, black, red and white chalk and grey wash on wove paper

Dimensions

Height: 25.8 cm
Width: 33.6 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2350

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

One of the most popular artists of his generation, Landseer was celebrated for his lifelike paintings of animals. This naturalistic drawing in three colours of chalk was most probably made in preparation for the monumental sculpted lions at the base of Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square, London, which were unveiled in January 1867 to great acclaim. The image was possibly produced from a sketch made on one of the artist’s regular trips to London’s Zoological Gardens to study lions from life.

Provenance

the artist's sister, Mrs McKenzie; purchased from her by a Gentleman; purchased from him by John Hollingworth; his sale, Birmingham, 1879; Colonel Burdett Morony; his sale, Sotheby's (London), 14 December 1927, lot 106; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Landseer’s ‘The Monarch of the Glen’, National Gallery, London, 28/11/2018-03/02/2019

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/02/2011-15/05/2011

Captured on Paper, Animals in the Prints and Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2002-11/08/2002 ...More

Creative Quarters, Museum of London, 28/03/2001-15/07/2001

The Life and Work of Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A., Sheffield, 06/02/1972-12/03/1972

Churchill Club, London, 1943

Royal Society of British Artists, London, 1943-44

A Loan exhibition of English and French paintings and drawings, Wigan Grammar School, 06/04/1938-30/04/1938 ...Less

Literature

Mathew Norman, "Drawings of lions by Sire Edwin Landseer (1802-1873) and the Trafalgar Square Monument" British Art Journal 21, no. 2 (2020), pp. 38-45
pp. 42-43
ill. on p. 42

Life, Legend, Landscape: Victorian Drawings & Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
no. 29
ill. on p. 114

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
cat. no. 29
ill. on p. 114 ...More

Creative Quarters, Museum of London, 2001
pp. 86-90

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 30

Some Victorian Draughtsmen, Royal Society of British Artists, 1943-1944 Cambridge, 1944
fig. 32 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Mount (removed, now cut down and in object file), graphite: "- / "Purchased at Mr. John Hollingworth's Sale, / Birmingham, 1879." / "This drawing was one of several in an album / belonging to Sir E. Landseer's sister, Mrs. McKenzie, / wh I purchased from the Gentleman who bought / it from the lady direct, + the late Mr. Thos. Landseer / who saw it at my house acknowledged its genuiness" / John Hollingsworth.".

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b). Mount (removed, now missing, recorded in modes), Recto: lower left corner, blindstamped: oval shape, unidentified collector's mark?

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