Signed lower left and dated 1861 and
inscribed lower right: PARTHENON FROM
PHALERUM BAY. 1861, further inscribed on part of old mount: The Acropolis & Pentelius from Phalerum
Bay -/seen acrofs the Marsh – with the Parthenon rising/behind the Hill of the
Museum
Watercolour heightened with touches of
bodycolour and scratching out
27.4 by 51.5 cm., 10 3/4 by 20 1/4 inches
Johnson was a pupil of the British
artist William James Müller and accompanied him on his trip to Lycia in Turkey,
with the archaeologist Sir Charles Fellows, in 1843. He settled in London on
his return and accompanied David Cox on various sketching tours to North Wales.
He also travelled extensively in Greece, Italy, France and North Africa.
This is view of the Parthenon from
Faliro (Phalerum in ancient Greece) which is part of Piraeus. Faliro is by the
sea five miles south-west of the city centre.
Inscribed lower left: The Entrance to Borrowdale and dated August 1877
Watercolour heightened with scratching out
338 x 502 mm., 13 ¼ x 19 ¾ in.
Provenance:
The Artist’s studio sale, Christie’s, 5th March 1885, lot 5
Grange Bridge, in the village of Grange, stands at the entrance to Borrowdale between Grange Fell and Castle Crag. It has stood over the River Derwent since 1675.
Signed
with initials lower left: Theatre of
Xanthus/Nov 6 1843 HJJ
Watercolour
over traces of pencil
34.7 by
26.2 cm., 13 ? by 10 ? in.
Xanthus was the capital of ancient Lycia.
Its strategic significance was recognised by the Persians, Greeks and Romans,
who in turn all conquered the region. The temple was built in the mid-2nd
Century AD during Roman occupation and was so large, the layout of the city had
to be altered to accommodate it. The British traveller and archaeologist, Sir
Charles Fellowes first visited Zanthus in 1838 and returned several times
including in 1843 with Johnson and M?ller, when the present watercolour was
executed.
Watercolour over pencil on several
sheets of joined paper
40.2 by 58.7 cm., 15 3/4 by 23 in.
Cape Sunion lies on the southern tip of
Attican peninsula about 40 miles south of Athens. The remains of the Temple are
perched on the headland, overlooking the Aegean Sea. It is reputedly where Aegeus,
King of Athens jumped off the cliffs to his death, thinking his son Theseus had
failed in his quest to slay the Minotaur. The earliest literary reference to
Sounion is in Homer's Odyssey, probably composed in the 8th century
BC, although but the earliest archaeological remains date to around 700 BC. The
temple, whose columns still stand today, was probably built circa 440BC, during
the same period that the Parthenon was rebuilt.