Bonington’s brilliant decade of landscape paintings: 1

In the first half of the nineteenth century Britain had three landscape painters of international repute: John Constable (1776–1837), whose work sold better in France than in England, JMW Turner (1775–1851), whose later works anticipated Impressionism, and Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828), who was establishing his international reputation when he died of pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of only twenty-five. In this and tomorrow’s article I celebrate the brief and brilliant art of the last of those, Richard Parkes Bonington.

Bonington was born near Nottingham, England. His father had inherited the post of Nottinghamshire jailer in 1789, but before his son was born, father had abandoned that to be a drawing instructor and portrait painter, and had become a reasonably successful provincial artist. The early years of the nineteenth century were financially difficult, and father and mother saw their income falling, so decided to move to France. His father set up a lace factory in Calais in 1817, then moved to Paris the following year to establish a lace shop.

Bonington (the son) was first taught painting by his father, but was rescued from that by Louis Francia, who had recently returned from England. He also copied in the Louvre, and in 1819 enrolled in the atelier of Baron Gros at the Institut de France, the most prestigious in France at the time. Among his fellow students were Paul Delaroche, Robert-Fleury, and Charlet. At first, Bonington and Gros didn’t get on well, but became reconciled over time.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), View of the Pont des Arts from the Quai du Louvre (c 1819-20) (14), watercolour over graphite on medium, cream, slightly textured wove paper, 21 x 29 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

Among Bonington’s favourite views for watercolours were those of the Hôtel des Invalides, Paris from the Père-Lachaise Cemetery, and this View of the Pont des Arts from the Quai du Louvre from about 1819-20 when he wasn’t quite eighteen.

With these watercolour views of Paris selling well, Bonington toured Normandy in the autumn of 1821, returning via Rouen. During that he started developing his interest in coastal landscapes, which were to remain central for the rest of his career. He began to exhibit in the Salon from 1822, and to produce illustrations for travel books published by his father and Ostervald, who also dealt in British paintings.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), Near Honfleur (c 1823) (80), watercolour over graphite on medium, cream, moderately textured wove paper, 20.8 x 27.1 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

By 1823, Bonington’s watercolours had become popular, with many being turned into prints, and were generating a healthy income for him and his parents. That year he toured north from Rouen along the coast to Calais and Flanders, then back to Paris via Amiens. Typical of the views which he painted then is this watercolour Near Honfleur (c 1823), although this doesn’t appear to have been turned into a print.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), Fishing Boats Aground (c 1823-4) (92), watercolour over graphite, 13.7 x 18.2 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

In early 1824, Bonington, in company with his colleague Colin, sketched and painted in Dunkerque and along the north coast again; although Colin returned earlier, Bonington didn’t get back to Paris until the early summer. Among the watercolour views he painted around this time was Fishing Boats Aground (c 1823-4).

He was then working successfully in oils as well as watercolours, and in the summer of 1824 had two oils and a watercolour accepted for the Salon and sold in advance for 500 francs each. He was also awarded a gold medal at that Salon, alongside Constable and Copley Fielding, and Sir Thomas Lawrence was awarded the Legion of Honour. Bonington returned to Dunkerque and continued to paint.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), A Fishmarket near Boulogne (1824) (171), oil on canvas, 82 x 122.5 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

It has been suggested that Bonington’s A Fishmarket near Boulogne (1824) was one of his paintings exhibited in the Salon in 1824, but Noon points out that this canvas was larger than any of his listed for that Salon. It is, without doubt, one of his most significant early paintings, and one of the best of his brief career.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), A Fishmarket near Boulogne (detail) (1824) (171), oil on canvas, 82 x 122.5 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

This detail view shows how loosely he handled many of the figures and objects, and the exaggerated aerial perspective giving it such depth.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), Near Quillebeuf (c 1824-5) (178), oil on canvas, 42.5 x 53.4 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

Another early and successful oil painting, his Near Quillebeuf (c 1824-5) may have a little of Constable’s influence in its foreground, but otherwise shows similar style to A Fishmarket near Boulogne.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), Fishing Vessels in a Choppy Sea (1825) (99), watercolour, 14.1 x 23.1 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary. Wikimedia Commons.

Fishing Vessels in a Choppy Sea (1825) was probably a watercolour copy of his A Sea Piece (c 1824), which may have been inspired by Turner’s marines. It was probably painted at Cap Blanc Nez off Wissant.

In May 1825, Bonington and Colin visited London, where they met up with Eugène Delacroix. There they studied public and private collections, and enjoyed many visits to the theatre.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), Beached Vessels and a Wagon near Trouville (c 1825) (179), oil on canvas, 37.1 x 52.2 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

Bonington’s Beached Vessels and a Wagon near Trouville (c 1825) may have been painted when he visited Trouville with Eugène Isabey after their return from England in the summer of 1825. Some have suggested the wagon is another touch of Constable, but Noon points out that such vehicles were commonly used around the coast, and appear in other paintings by Bonington.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), In the Forest at Fontainebleau (c 1825) (188), oil on millboard, 32.4 x 24.1 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

In the Forest at Fontainebleau (c 1825) was probably painted after his visit to London, and together with a related graphite sketch, is the only evidence for Bonington having visited Fontainebleau. The rocks are shown in a particularly painterly style, suggesting that it may have been started if not completed en plein air.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), On the Coast of Picardy (c 1825-6) (187), oil on canvas, 36.8 x 50.7 cm, The Wallace Collection, London. Wikimedia Commons.

On the Coast of Picardy (c 1825-6) shows the Channel coast, probably just north of Le Havre, an area that was to prove popular later with JMW Turner and later still the Impressionists.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), A Wooded Lane (c 1825) (193), oil on millboard, 28 x 22.8 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

Bonington doesn’t appear to have painted many woodland landscapes, but his A Wooded Lane (c 1825) was probably influenced by Paul Huet, with whom Bonington travelled around Rouen and Mantes in the autumn of 1825, rather than Constable.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), Near Rouen (c 1825) (194), oil on millboard, 27.9 x 33 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Bonington’s finest painting of woodland is undoubtedly his Near Rouen from that same campaign with Huet in 1825. Showing Rouen in the distance, it appears to have been a plein air oil sketch, with particular emphasis on development of the trees, which pop out in their detail from its roughed-in sky.

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), Barges on a River (c 1825-6) (197), oil on millboard, 25.1 x 35.3 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Wikimedia Commons.

Barges on a River (c 1825-6) was probably painted during that trip too, in the vicinity of Mantes. The windmill seen behind the trees is reminiscent of seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting.

Tomorrow’s article will cover the last three years of Bonington’s paintings.

References

Biography by Bruce MacEvoy
Wikipedia’s short article

Noon P (2008) Richard Parkes Bonington, The Complete Paintings, Yale UP. ISBN 978 0 300 13421 6. Note that numbers given after the year of each painting in the captions refer to Noon’s catalogue.