Bin Tepe, Sardis

William Simpson became famous as an artist reporter during the Crimean War. He was also one of the most widely travelled watercolourists of the Victorian period, reaching Egypt, India, Tibet and China during the course of his career as a professional illustrator. In the late 1870s he travelled to Greece and Asia Minor to record excavations of ancient sites. 'Bin Tepe, Sardis' is one of two watercolours presented to the Art Gallery of New South Wales by the artist’s widow in 1911.