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Distant View of the Pyramids - from the Desert at Cairo,

Unknown

1847

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Orientalism Romanticism Early 19th Century Cityscape

Dominant colour

Distant View of the Pyramids - from the Desert at Cairo, is a 1847 watercolor by Unknown, a Orientalism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1847 · Orientalism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This watercolor shows a flat, sandy desert with scattered rocks and a few small groups of people in the distance. The ground is light beige, almost blending with the pale sky. On the left, a rocky outcrop juts up, and far off, two pyramid shapes sit against the horizon. The artist used soft, faint strokes to suggest heat and emptiness. The pyramids are barely more than smudges, making the desert feel vast and quiet. Next, look up Romanticism to see how artists used landscapes to express big ideas.

The story of this work

Overview

One of eight views of Turkey and Egypt created in 1847, this drawing depicts a distant view of the pyramids from the Cairo desert. The work is part of a group of drawings executed during the same journey, though at least two different artists likely contributed to the series. The sheets were once bound together, as evidenced by inscriptions and offset markings on the reverse sides of some mounts. The drawing has been separated from its original album or portfolio.

Read the full account in the museum source.