DOI issue:
No. 94 (December, 1904)
DOI article:Frantz, Henri: The art of Richard Parkes Bonington, 1801 - 1828
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26963#0143
R. P. Bonington
step the green banks of the winding Seine, painting
its water-scenes and its picturesque farms, and its
simple peasants. At Rouen he stayed for some
time, fascinated by the old-world city, where he
rendered with his light touch its Gothic churches,
their cunningly carved towers poised in the clear or
cloud-flecked sky, its old houses, and its narrow,
crowded streets
It was, however, above all, the coast which
attracted him—the alluring charm of the shore at
low tide, with the high cliffs on one side towering
up to the sky, and on the other the grey or blue
line of the sea, and the fishermen, with their boats
drawn up high and dry. At Havre, at Dieppe,
at Boulogne, at Saint Jouin, where he painted
his famous Mill,, at Yport, and other places,
he studied the life of the seaport, the move-
ments of the fishing-boats, the landing of the fish,
and all those picturesque scenes which cannot
but strike the most indifferent observer. In these
few words has been summed up the story of one
whole period, perhaps that in which Bonington’s
work was most vigorous. Turning to those coast
scenes—in oil or in water-colour, which collectors
strive for so assiduously, and which museums
exhibit so proudly—it may be said, in brief,
that all his works in this style belong to one
type. Yet how varied is the rendering of each one
of them, how striking their freedom of execution,
how amazing their artistic feeling. With what ever
fresh joy and surprise one passes from one to the
other of these masterpieces—first, to those in the
Wallace collection, where we shall later examine
different manifestations of this great talent; from
there to the Coast Scene of the Nottingham Art
Gallery to the splendid canvas entitled On the
French Coast, Calais, in the Humphrey Roberts
collection, and the Low Tide of the Groult collec-
tion, to the Musee de Montpellier, and to the other
collections which possess specimens of his work.
During the remainder of his life Bonington was
continually making expeditions on the coast of
Normandy. Besides the fact that these later works
are marked by a freer style, it is impossible to
avoid noticing in those produced between his first
and his last stay in Normandy their extraordinarily
modern character. In truth they belong to no age,
so vigorous are they, so unrestrained, so directly
inspired by life itself, that they might be expected
to bear the signatures of artists of our own day.
a town in Italy’ fin the collection of R. G. Behrens, Esq.) by r. p. Bonington
103
step the green banks of the winding Seine, painting
its water-scenes and its picturesque farms, and its
simple peasants. At Rouen he stayed for some
time, fascinated by the old-world city, where he
rendered with his light touch its Gothic churches,
their cunningly carved towers poised in the clear or
cloud-flecked sky, its old houses, and its narrow,
crowded streets
It was, however, above all, the coast which
attracted him—the alluring charm of the shore at
low tide, with the high cliffs on one side towering
up to the sky, and on the other the grey or blue
line of the sea, and the fishermen, with their boats
drawn up high and dry. At Havre, at Dieppe,
at Boulogne, at Saint Jouin, where he painted
his famous Mill,, at Yport, and other places,
he studied the life of the seaport, the move-
ments of the fishing-boats, the landing of the fish,
and all those picturesque scenes which cannot
but strike the most indifferent observer. In these
few words has been summed up the story of one
whole period, perhaps that in which Bonington’s
work was most vigorous. Turning to those coast
scenes—in oil or in water-colour, which collectors
strive for so assiduously, and which museums
exhibit so proudly—it may be said, in brief,
that all his works in this style belong to one
type. Yet how varied is the rendering of each one
of them, how striking their freedom of execution,
how amazing their artistic feeling. With what ever
fresh joy and surprise one passes from one to the
other of these masterpieces—first, to those in the
Wallace collection, where we shall later examine
different manifestations of this great talent; from
there to the Coast Scene of the Nottingham Art
Gallery to the splendid canvas entitled On the
French Coast, Calais, in the Humphrey Roberts
collection, and the Low Tide of the Groult collec-
tion, to the Musee de Montpellier, and to the other
collections which possess specimens of his work.
During the remainder of his life Bonington was
continually making expeditions on the coast of
Normandy. Besides the fact that these later works
are marked by a freer style, it is impossible to
avoid noticing in those produced between his first
and his last stay in Normandy their extraordinarily
modern character. In truth they belong to no age,
so vigorous are they, so unrestrained, so directly
inspired by life itself, that they might be expected
to bear the signatures of artists of our own day.
a town in Italy’ fin the collection of R. G. Behrens, Esq.) by r. p. Bonington
103