Harbour at sunset

Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828) was a British painter associated with the Romantic movement in art during the nineteenth century. Although he was born in England near Nottingham, his family relocated to Calais, France, in 1817 and Bonington learned most of his artistic skills there. He first started taking lessons in watercolour with François Louis Thomas Francia, before studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris. There he worked under the painter Antoine-Jean Gros. He also became acquainted with Eugène Delacroix, and in 1825 the two of them spent time together in England sketching.

Bonington’s bright watercolours, based on the English tradition of artists like Thomas Girtin and Joseph Mallord William Turner, were a novelty in France at the time. He started exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1822 and won a gold medal in the 1824 Salon, which also saw British painters like John Constable, Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding and Thomas Lawrence exhibiting. Despite his short career, Bonington gained numerous loyal followers and many copies and forgeries of his works were made after his tragic death from tuberculosis in 1828.

His watercolours can be broadly divided into two main categories: landscapes and genre. The latter often depicts figures in Venetian or French settings and costumes, whereas his landscapes are primarily coastal marinescapes with dominating, atmospheric skies. Harbour at sunset is a serene example of this, showing numerous boats on calm waters bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. In the background is a cityscape with two prominent church buildings which recall his elaborate architectural drawings.

Further reading:

Mallalieu, H.L. (1986), The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists up to 1920: Volume I – The Text, 2nd edition, Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club.

Noon, P. (2009), Richard Parkes Bonington: The Complete Paintings, New Haven: Yale University Press.