Richard Parkes Bonington | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1802-10-25)25 October 1802 |
| Died | 23 September 1828(1828-09-23) (aged 25) London, England |
| Education | École des Beaux-Arts, Paris |
| Movement | Orientalist,Romanticism |
Richard Parkes Bonington (25 October 1802[1] – 23 September 1828) was an EnglishRomanticlandscape painter. He moved toFrance at the age of 14 and can also be considered as a French artist, and an intermediary bringing aspects of English style to France.[2] Becoming, after his early death, one of the most influential British artists of his time, the facility of his style was inspired by the old masters, yet was entirely modern in its application. His landscapes were mostly of coastal scenes, with a low horizon and large sky, showing a brilliant handling of light and atmosphere. He also painted small historicalcabinet paintings in a freely-handled version of thetroubadour style.
Richard Parkes Bonington was born in the town ofArnold, four miles fromNottingham.[1] His father also known as Richard was successively a gaoler, a drawing master and lace-maker, and his mother a teacher. Bonington learned watercolour painting from his father and exhibited paintings at theLiverpool Academy at the age of eleven.
In 1817, Bonington's family moved toCalais, France, where his father had set up a lace factory. At this time, Bonington started taking lessons from the painterFrançois Louis Thomas Francia,[3] who, having recently returned from England, where he had been deeply influenced by the work ofThomas Girtin,[4] taught him the English watercolour technique. In 1818, the Bonington family moved to Paris to open a lace shop. There he met and became friends withEugène Delacroix. He worked for a time producing copies of Dutch and Flemish landscapes in theLouvre. In 1820, he started attending theÉcole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied underAntoine-Jean, Baron Gros.[3]
It was around this time that Bonington started going on sketching tours in the suburbs of Paris and the surrounding countryside. His first paintings were exhibited at theParis Salon of 1822. He also began to work in oils and lithography, illustratingBaron Taylor'sVoyages pittoresques dans l'ancienne France and his own architectural seriesRestes et Fragmens. In 1824, he won a gold medal at theParis Salon of 1824 along withJohn Constable andAnthony Vandyke Copley Fielding, and spent most of the year painting coastal views inDunkirk.[3]
In 1825 he met Delacroix on a visit withAlexandre-Marie Colin to London, and they sketched together there, and shared a studio for some months in Paris on their return; Delacroix influenced him in turning to historical painting. He also developed a technique mixing watercolour withgouache and gum, achieving an effect close to oil painting. HisFrench Coast with Fisherman was one of the works he exhibited at theBritish Institution in February 1826 which established his reputation in his native England where he had previously been largely unknown.[5] In 1826 he visited northern Italy,[6] staying inVenice for a month,[7] and London again in 1827–8. In late 1828 histuberculosis worsened and his parents sent him back to London for treatment. Bonington died of tuberculosis on 23 September 1828 at 29 Tottenham Street in London, aged 25.[6] He was buried in the graveyard of St James's Chapel Pentonville and in 1837 his remains were transferred to Kensal Green Cemetery to be re-interred with his parents.
Delacroix paid tribute to Bonington's work in a letter toThéophile Thoré in 1861. It reads, in part:
When I met him for the first time, I too was very young and was making studies in the Louvre: this was around 1816 or 1817... Already in this genre (watercolor), which was an English novelty at that time, he had an astonishing ability... To my mind, one can find in other modern artists qualities of strength and of precision in rendering that are superior to those in Bonington's pictures, but no one in this modern school, and perhaps even before, has possessed that lightness of touch which, especially in watercolours, makes his works a type of diamond which flatters and ravishes the eye, independently of any subject and any imitation.[8]
ToLaurence Binyon however, "Bonington's extraordinary technical gift was also his enemy. There is none of the interest of struggle in his painting."[7]
Beyond his watercolors, Bonington is known for his drawings withgraphite pencil, particularly his elaboratecityscapes.
Bonington had a number of close followers, such as Roqueplan and Isabey in France, andThomas Shotter Boys,James Holland,Edward Pritchett,William Callow andJohn Scarlett Davis in England. In addition, there were many copies and forgeries of his work made in the period immediately after his death.[9]
A statue to him was erected outside theNottingham School of Art byWatson Fothergill, and a theatre[10] and primary school in his home town ofArnold are named after him. In addition, the house in which he was born (79 High Street, Arnold) is now named 'Bonington House' and is Grade IIlisted.[11] TheWallace Collection has an especially large group of 35 works, representing both his landscapes andhistory paintings.
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