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BY ALBERT CHEN
A long-lost watercolour by the renowned British artist John Frederick Lewis has commanded an impressive £1,137,400 (approximately $1,485,000) at Bonhams‘ 19th Century & Orientalist Paintings sale held today, 26 March, at the auction house’s New Bond Street location in London. The painting, A Reception in the Harem, has not been seen in public for over 60 years and had remained in the same private collection since 1961.
Charles O’Brien, Head of 19th Century Paintings at Bonhams, expressed his excitement over the sale, stating, “A Reception in the Harem is an extraordinary watercolour, rich in intricate detail and vibrant jewel-like colours, hallmarks of Lewis’s celebrated style. This work’s reappearance after more than six decades is a true gem, and it’s no surprise it caught the attention of collectors eager to acquire a piece by one of the greatest British Orientalist painters.”
John Frederick Lewis (1804-1876) is considered one of the foremost British artists of the 19th century, known for his exceptional skill in both oil and watercolour painting. In 1855, he was elected President of London’s Old Watercolour Society, and by 1865, he had become a full member of the Royal Academy. Lewis’s time spent in Egypt during the 1840s had a profound influence on his work, and his paintings of the Middle East and North Africa—produced after 1850—became synonymous with the Orientalist movement.
A master of technique, Lewis invented a method of combining watercolour pigments with Chinese white, creating a luminous effect that rivalled the appearance of oil paintings. In the 1860s, he would often produce two nearly identical versions of his works: one in oil for exhibition and one in watercolour, designed specifically for private collectors.
A Reception in the Harem is a larger-scale version of an oil painting by Lewis housed at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, further cementing its significance in the artist’s body of work. The rediscovery of this exceptional piece highlights not only the lasting appeal of Lewis’s work but also the ongoing fascination with Orientalism in art, as collectors continue to seek out masterpieces that offer a glimpse into the exotic worlds explored by 19th-century European artists. This record-breaking sale at Bonhams further underscores the growing interest in 19th-century British art and the enduring legacy of one of its most accomplished painters.
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