In the beginning
Bonington was born into an artistic family in October 1802 near Nottingham, who left England for France in 1817 to open a lace manufactory in Calais. The family only stayed in Calais until 1818, but there, a teenage Bonington would take lessons from watercolour painter Louis Françia.
His formal artistic education would continue as he moved to Paris, where he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts under Antoine-Jean Gros from 1819 to 1822. Gros had had an auspicious career: having impressed Joséphine Bonaparte, who introduced him to her famous husband, he became part of the artistic entourage of Napoleon.
Bonington would find himself not only taught by illustrious artists, but friends with them too. Eugène Delacroix, perhaps best remembered as the artist of 1830’s Liberty Leading the People (now in the Louvre, Paris), was one of his closest friends, with the two artists travelling together and sharing a studio.
[Gothic doorway, Caen]
Early success
His training and talent certainly set Bonington up for early recognition by the art world.
Between extensive periods of travel, Bonington first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1822, before receiving a gold medal at the 1824 Salon alongside fellow British artists John Constable and Copley Fielding.
It can’t be overstated how important the Paris Salon was for the art world during this period. From the late seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries, it was the most prestigious exhibition for artists to enter their work in Paris, and it had only opened to artists from outside France in 1795.
Bonington was triumphant at only twenty-two years old at this celebrated exhibition, having exhibited three seascapes painted in oils: astonishingly, he had only begun painting in oils around the time of the salon.
The Bowood drawings
We have three groups of Bonington’s drawings at Bowood, with 68 in total, bought by the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne at a studio sale in 1829. The first group were completed before Bonington won his gold medal, between 1819 and 1823. They show his early prowess and fondness for northern France, where he travelled extensively. His drawings were intended as a base for a group of watercolours and also contributed towards two major sets of lithographs (a type of printing) that were published in 1824.
My favourite from this group is this lovely 1820 drawing of a timbered house front that Bonington saw in Normandy. I love how the people seem to be moving, the woman at the door and the man facing her in conversation, and the beautiful architecture that Bonington captured which at once seems so detailed but also like he sketched them in a flash as he was watching the scene.
[Timbered house front, Normandy, 1820]
The Trip to Italy
After this first group of drawings, Bonington spent time in Belgium, Dunkirk and London, where he would exhibit his work for the first time in the January of 1826. After this, he spent the spring in Italy.
It would be his only journey to the country that was often a pilgrimage for artists during this period, and, to begin with, he didn’t have too great a time: it rained and rained, but eventually upon settling in Venice, everything improved, which I think you can tell from the second group of drawings.
This group give an insight into what Bonington saw whilst he was there. His views are so elegant and sketchy, again showing his supreme skill at quickly taking down the view in front of his eyes. This was a skill he would be remembered for, with part of his legacy being the development of this type of out of doors recording of landscapes, known as plein air. It made him a significant forerunner of an incredibly important group of late nineteenth century artists in France: the Impressionists.
[On the Grand Canal, Venice, the Rialto in the distance, with the two facades of Palazzo Ca Capello in the centre, 1826]
Our final group of drawings at Bowood are also from this trip: studies of Old Master paintings and figures from life whilst in Venice, showing that Bonington was also highly influenced by the techniques and styles of earlier artists. He had long looked to studying Old Masters throughout his career as an artist and his study of Venus et l’Amour, after Rembrandt, is perhaps my favourite drawing in the whole of the collection.
A short but creative life
When the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne purchased these drawings, it was very shortly after Bonington had passed away: in September 1828, just before his twenty-sixth birthday. He died of tuberculosis.
Bonington’s impact on the art world during such a short career was so monumental that a memorial exhibition was staged only six years after his death, in 1834. His drawings show how versatile his talent was, and we are so fortunate to have so many on display here in the galleries at Bowood.
[Venus et l’Amour, after Rembrandt]
