Bonington

Bonington, RICHARD PARKES, painter in oil and water-colours, was born at Arnold, near Nottingham, on 25th October 1801. His father, who had been governor of Nottingham prison, after many vicissitudes settled at Calais, where the son was placed under Louis Francia, the water-colour painter; and he afterwards studied in Paris—in the Louvre, at the Institute, and under Baron Gros. His water-colours sold rapidly. In 1822 he began to exhibit in the Salon, and received a premium from the Société des Amis des Arts for his views of Havre and Lillebonne; and two years later he was awarded a medal at the Salon, when Constable and Copley Fielding were similarly decorated. He now occupied himself with lithography; many of his sketches were reproduced by this method in such works as Baron Taylor's Voyages Pittoresques dans l'ancienne France, and he occasionally drew upon the stone himself, from his own designs and those of other artists. A fine collection of his work of this kind is preserved in the print-room of the British Museum. About 1825 he took to oil-painting, and in that year visited England, accompanied by Delacroix, in whose studio he worked after his return to Paris; and having visited Italy, he produced his splendid Venice views of the 'Ducal Palace' and the 'Grand Canal,' which figured in the Salon of 1827, along with his 'Francis I. and the Queen of Navarre' and his 'Henry III. receiving the Spanish Ambassador.' He also exhibited in the Royal Academy and the British Institution. His position was now fully established, and commissions came to him in plenty; but he caught an attack of brain-fever from exposure while sketching in the sun, and speedily fell into a decline. He visited London for medical advice, and died there, 23d September 1828. Of late years the fame of Bonington has been steadily increasing, and he is recognised as a most accomplished and original painter of landscape and architectural subjects, as well as of scenes of historical genre. He is especially admired for the purity and brilliancy of his colouring. His 'Henry III. receiving the Spanish Ambassador' was bought by Lord Hertford for 49,000 francs; and his 'Grand Canal, Venice,' and the 'Fishmarket, Bonlogne,' realised £3150 each at the Novar sale. The Louvre contains several of his studies and an admirable example of his figure-pieces in oil, 'Francis I., Charles V., and the Duchess d'Etampes.' The National Gallery possesses the 'Piazzetta, St Marks, Venice,' 'Sunset,' and three water-colours by the artist.