International studio (24.1904/1905(1905))

R. P. Bonington

This comradeship begun in 1825 in the studio
in London, which the. two artists now shared,
resulted, as far as Bonington was concerned, in the
production of a small number of imaginative
pictures, taken either from Eastern subjects, then
very much in vogue, or from historical scenes.
Admirable in colour as they are, their sparkling
charm, their luxuriant richness, their translucency,
their subtly blended tones, make them almost
unique in the history of painting. One of these
works, exhibited in 1826 in aid of the Greeks in
the Lebrun gallery, depicted a Turk enjoying a
Siesta, which became the property of Mr. Birchall
of London. It is thus described by Burger: “The
dreamer sits full-face, with legs crossed, in the
dusky light against a great red curtain. He has on
a white turban, a vest, dark-green “short” clothes,
and red sandals. In his right hand he holds list-
lessly a long pipe. The background is of a pearly-
grey of a Velasquez tone. The whole has a touch
of M. Eugene Delacroix’s style of colour, but the
drawing is more delicate and expressive.” In the
same category may be included some justly cele-
brated historical pictures—Mazarin and Atme of
Austria, Francis I. and the Queen of Navarre,
which was purchased by the Delessert gallery in
1869, and Hemi IV. receiving the Spanish Am-
bassador (once in the San Donato collection). It
is of the second of these that Charles Blanc wrote :
“ All the romanticism of the day is summed up in
this little masterpiece. Its colour is that which
covered the palettes of Titian and Paolo Veronese,
the light is restrained and mysterious, like that of
Rembrandt. The figures are full of delightful grace
and extreme distinction. The Henri III. of the
Wallace collection (bought in i860 for 49,000
francs) is yet another masterpiece, which was ex-
hibited in 1827, and in which the artist revels in
all the richness of the costumes and the profusely
scattered flowers. All the paintings of this series
are well worth a description ; it is impossible, how-
ever, to give it, and all that can be done is to cite a
few in which Bonington gives full play to all his
delicate imaginative faculties : Francis I. and the
Duchesse d’Etampes, Anne Page and Slender, in-
spired by the “ Merry Wives of Windsor,” and the
cherished possession of Theophile Gautier (both
now in the Rothschild collection), and the Invalid
Girl, the Billet-doux, the Antiquarian and Medi-
tation (all four engraved by William Reynolds).
Lastly, a third series would include the Italian
works of Bonington, a few delightful canvases, full
of warmth and passion, painted by one already
under the hand of death, yet inspired with all the
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intoxication of the sunlight, during the course of a
trip with his friend Rivet. How full of charm are
these productions, all shimmering with light, all
overflowing with the glorious rays of that Italian
sun of which their young author had so often
dreamed. Everywhere we can picture him trans-
ferring to canvas, with all the ardour of an inspired
colourist, the heroic or melancholy scenes which
allured him. At Milan he painted a chapel in-
terior, at Venice a little pearl, now in the Tate
gallery, The Riva della Schiavoni, and the Colleoni
of the Louvre, with several of the works in the
Wallace collection. Bonington went no further
than Bologna; he sickened with that sign of ap-
proaching death, a longing for the scenes of his
childhood. In 1827, on his return to Paris, he
exhibited at the Salon for the last time. His last
pictures of 1827 and 1828 are the Swan-song of
this splendid talent. To study in the Louvre his
View of the Tuileries, and his Artificial Waters at
Versailles, with their skies flecked with scudding
clouds, their depth of atmosphere, their groups of
people so full of life and movement, and their
harmonious statues, is to realise to the full the
greatness of that artistic ability as independent in
style and technique as the most advanced of the
painters of our day, and with a true mastery of the
most complicated problems of life and atmosphere.
It was in these last few months, too, that he
painted that vigorous piece of work, Portrait of my
Nurse, presented by M. Flameng to the Louvre.
Wonderful, indeed, is the devouring activity of
this young artist, who in seven years produced so
great a number of perfect works in such different
styles. For, even while he was painting these light
luminous water-colours, which are among the best
of their class, he found time, too, to devote atten-
tion to lithography. He joined several others in
working for a miscellany called “ A Picturesque
Journey in Old France” for four years, from 1824.
His two most famous plates are the Great Clock
Tower at Evreux and La Rue du gros Horloge
d Rouen. Besides these monuments of Normandy
he also rendered some of the churches and historic
sites of Franche-Comte. These last were, as a rule,
executed after sketches provided for him, to which
he added all the figures; while, on the other hand, his
streets of Caen, Lillebonne, Dieppe, and Rouen,
are all his own work entirely from nature, in which
by the simple process of lithography he obtains
admirable colour effects.
In the spring of 1828, Bonington went to
England to pay a visit to Sir Thomas Lawrence,
who gave him the most cordial welcome, after which