Next in the spring cycle of cultural presentations organised by Din l-Art Helwa is that by Professor David Farley-Hills on Edward Lear, his life and travels and, in particular, his paintings of Malta.

Edward Lear, writer, illustrator and traveller, was born in Holloway, the 20th of 21 children of a London stockbroker, in 1812. His decision to devote his career to landscape painting was taken when his already poor eyesight had been greatly strained by working on coloured plates of ornithological and zoological subjects; further meticulously detailed work became impossible.

His weak lungs could not support the wretchedly damp and gloomy English winters, so Lear left England in 1837 and became a wanderer for the rest of his life. For the first few years, however, he made Rome his main base and began to explore countries off the beaten track, the Ionian islands and the Greek mainland, Turkey, Albania, Malta, Egypt, the Sinai desert, Palestine and, in 1873 and 1874, India and Ceylon.

He is known to have returned to Malta several times between 1848 and 1849 and his bright, luminous paintings are characterised with the handwritten annotations he drew on his sketches as notes to himself. These render his work all the more particular, historically as well as artistically.

Edward Lear died in San Remo, Italy, in 1888. He remains without doubt the most endearing of all the 19th century travellers with his passionate enthusiasm for the extraordinary landscapes he encountered during his wanderings, his sharp eye for the quirks and curiosities of his fellow men, his remarkable and original talent as a landscape painter, his inspired illustrations, nonsense rhymes, limericks and songs, lively travel books and voluminous and delightful correspondence.

Professor Farley-Hills was lecturer of English Literature at the University of Malta between 1961 and 1968. He has held various posts as lecturer in English Literature at the Queens University, Belfast, the University of Wales, Swansea, where he was Professor and also Head of Department of English, and is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wales.

The lecture by Professor Farley-Hills will be held on Thursday 20 April, at 6pm at 133, Melita Street, Valletta, the main offices of Din l-Art Helwa. Those attending are invited to be seated by 5.45pm.