Drawing Richard Parkes Bonnington (1802-1828)

RP BONNINGTON (1802-1828). "Sunset, Caux country". Drawing with ink wash. Вur: 9.5 x 12 cm. Frame: 32 x 35 cm. BIOGRAPHY: Bonnington was born in 1802 near Nottingham, England. Around 1817, his family moved to Calais, France. In 1818, Bonington traveled to Paris where he met Eugène Delacroix and made watercolor prints of Dutch and Flemish landscapes in the Louvre. In 1821-22 he studied under Antoine-Jean Gros at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His first works, mainly sketches, were exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1822. He also began working in lithography. In 1824, he won a gold medal at the Paris Salon. He traveled throughout France and especially in Normandy, painting coastal landscapes and harbor scenes on the coast of Picardy. He also went to England and Scotland, sometimes accompanied by his friend Eugène Delacroix, in which he later worked. In 1826, Bonington visited Venice, where he was deeply impressed by Veronese and the St. Lawrence: column of St. Mark in Venice. From 1824 he experimented more and more in romantic subjects drawn from history and studied armor. His most famous works on historical subjects followed: Francis I and Marguerite de Navarre, Henry III and the Ambassador of England (1827-1828). He died because of fever in England at the age of 26, where he sought to heal. He drew in his bed until his last day.