Oil paint on wood
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-frederick-lewis-350" aria-label="More by John Frederick Lewis" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">John Frederick Lewis</a>
Courtyard Coptic Patriarchs House in Cairo
Purchased 1900
adults
animals: birds
animals: mammals
architecture
bird - non-specific
Cairo - non-specific
camel
cities, towns, villages (non-UK)
column
countries and continents
courtyard
duck
Egypt
Egyptian
features
figure
goat
group
groups
people
periods and styles
places
pool
riding
society
townscapes / man-made features
transport: land
tree
water: inland
<p>The Coptic Church is the ancient Orthodox Christian Church of Egypt. This study of the patriarch’s house was executed after Lewis’s return from Egypt in 1851, from the sketches he brought back. The picture highlights Lewis’s skill in depicting figures and setting with careful attention to light and shade, produced here by the top-lit courtyard. Lewis caused a sensation when he exhibited one of his Near Eastern scenes in London in 1850. John Ruskin admired his attention to detail, claiming that in truth-to-nature he ranked alongside the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.</p><p><em>Gallery label, November 2016</em></p>
painting oil paint wood
10 December 2001 – 27 April 2003
2003-04-27
10 December 2001 – 27 April 2003
2003-04-27
2001-12-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-12-10
British Artists and the Near East
Collection based display
12 May 2006 – 21 May 2007
2007-05-21
12 May 2007
2007-05-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2006-05-12
Orientalism
Collection based display
4 February 2008 – 31 May 2009
2009-05-31
7 February 2008 – 28 April 2008
2008-04-28
2008-02-07
Yale Center for British Art (New Haven, USA)
http://ycba.yale.edu/index.asp
4 June 2008 – 31 August 2008
2008-08-31
2008-06-04
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
26 September 2008 – 11 January 2009
2009-01-11
2008-09-26
Pera Museum (Istanbul, Turkey)
18 February 2009 – 30 April 2009
2009-04-30
2009-02-18
Sharjah Art Museum (Sharjah, UAE)
2008-02-04
The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting
Loan-out
7 February 2008 – 30 April 2009
2009-04-30
7 February 2008 – 28 April 2008
2008-04-28
2008-02-07
Yale Center for British Art (New Haven, USA)
http://ycba.yale.edu/index.asp
4 June 2008 – 31 August 2008
2008-08-31
2008-06-04
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
26 September 2008 – 4 January 2009
2009-01-04
2008-09-26
Pera Museum (Istanbul, Turkey)
18 February 2009 – 30 April 2009
2009-04-30
2009-02-18
Sharjah Art Museum (Sharjah, UAE)
2008-02-07
British Orientalist Painting
Exhibition
5 October 2012 – 20 January 2013
2013-01-20
5 October 2012 – 20 January 2013
2013-01-20
2012-10-05
Fundación Juan March (Madrid, Spain)
http://www.march.es
2012-10-05
"No More Fog in the Channel" Holbein to Hockney
Loan-out
5 November 2012 – 20 July 2014
2014-07-20
5 November 2012 – 20 July 2014
2014-07-20
2012-11-05
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-11-05
Gallery 9
Collection based display
9 July 2019 – 3 November 2019
2019-11-03
9 July 2019 – 3 November 2019
2019-11-03
2019-07-09
Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village (Compton, UK)
http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk
2019-07-09
John Frederick Lewis
Loan-out
Study for ‘The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch’s House in Cairo’
support: 368 × 356 mm
frame: 650 × 630 × 110 mm
Purchased 1900
<div class="text">
<p>John Frederick Lewis painted his North African scenes in his London studio using drawings made when he was living in Egypt and costumes he had collected there. At this time Egypt had modernised, and new steam vessels and railways made it easier to access. Some European artists made the most of better access to the country, but left contemporary life out of their pictures. This accorded with imperial fantasies of an archaic Egypt which their audiences found romantic. Critic John Ruskin claimed that ‘in truth to nature’, Lewis’ art ranked alongside the Pre-Raphaelite circle.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-11-29T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
adults animals: birds animals: mammals architecture bird - non-specific Cairo - non-specific camel cities, towns, villages (non-UK) column countries and continents courtyard duck Egypt Egyptian features figure goat group groups people periods and styles places pool riding society townscapes / man-made features transport: land tree water: inland