
01/03/2025
Now on view! The Art and Discovery of Idu's Tomb.
Artist Joseph Lindon Smith traveled to—and painted—sites all over the world, and he returned almost every year to Egypt, joining George Reisner at the “Harvard Camp” dig house headquarters west of the famous Giza Pyramids, or wherever Reisner happened to be excavating in Egypt or Sudan.
Reisner told him: “You’ve accomplished the impossible. Each painting is an archaeological record correct in details, but beautiful as a picture.”
These images became an important type of documentation, since back then there was no color photography in archaeology. Smith painted this interior of an Egyptian tomb—the tomb of Idu—in 1925. It’s now on view in From the Nile to the Euphrates: Creating the Museum.
See the website to learn more about Idu, his tomb, the excavations, and Smith. https://tinyurl.com/ArtDiscoveryIduTomb
Detail of “False door” and statue from the tomb of Idu, 1925. Joseph Lindon Smith (American, 1863–1950). Egypt (Giza, tomb of Idu, G 7102). Dynasty 6, 2338–2170 BC. Oil on canvas. HMANE 2024.1.1