Richard Parkes Bonington

Possibly the Bonington sale, London, Sotheby's, 1838, lot 56, (as View of Venice, with Shipping in the Foreground, (bt. Colnaghi (£11-10));
possibly with P. & D. Colnaghi, London, by 1838;
Sir Theodore Martin, K.C.B, K.C.V.O. (1816-1909);
his executor's sale, London, Christie's, 18 February 1911, lot 29 (as View at Venice, with Shipping at Anchor, (bt. Gooden & Fox (£73,10,0));
with Mess^rs Gooden & Fox, London, by 1911;
Julius Amschel;
by descent to his wife Alice;
by whom given to Malcolm and Olive Letts;
by descent to the present owner 
  

Possibly, The Hon. A. Shirley, Bonington, London 1940, p. 139
P. Noon, Richard Parkes Bonington, The Complete Paintings, Yale 2008, pp. 302-3, no. 238

Support This watercolour is fully laid down onto a card, this arrangement has been done many years ago. The condition of the wove paper is good, showing no damages, just a very light mount stain and paper discolouration over the sheet. Medium The colours are also good, though there is probably very slight drop-back in the more delicate tones. In my opinion, the darker wash in the upper left in the corner is the artist's work. Typically craquelure shows in the gummed areas. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions. Jane McAusland London office: Flat 3, 41 Lexington Street, Soho, London W1F 9AJ Accredited Conservator Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Jane McAusland Limited trading as Jane McAusland FIIC Registered in England & Wales No.4330838 Registered VAT No. 236 3828 52
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In this exquisite watercolour Bonington shows Venice from the water front close to the church of San Biagio. To the right, a collection of boats jostle in the calm waters, the complex forms of their rigging, sails and hulls beautifully rendered. In the distance, some of the city’s most famous landmarks can be seen: the Doge’s Palace, the Libreria, the domes of St. Mark’s Cathedral and St. Mark’s Campanile, which dominates the skyline.  

The watercolour has been dated by Patrick Noon to 1827 and was painted following Bonington’s journey to Venice, at the age of twenty-three. This tour of Italy was recorded in the diary of Bonington’s traveling companion Baron Charles Rivet (1800-1872). The pair left Paris on the 4^th of April and they were not to return for eleven weeks. They headed south to Switzerland, then crossed the Alps via Sion and Brig. Following visits to Milan, Brescia and Verona they arrived in Venice on the 20 April. Up until this point, the weather had been grey and wet and although these climatic conditions continued for a time, they steadily improved throughout their three week stay. Entranced by the architecture and the city’s magical light, Bonington produced many of his finest sketches during this stay and was reluctant to leave.

Rivet and Bonington then moved on to Padua and Ferrara before parting company shortly after leaving Florence. Bonington then travelled on alone visiting Rome, Lerici, Genoa and Turin. By the end of June he had returned to Paris, laden with drawings to which he could refer back in his studio.

Although this is a rather unusual view of Venice, Bonington seems to have been attracted to it and there is another watercolour by him of this same view, although with some compositional differences, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.¹

The present watercolour has not appeared at auction since 1911 and it has remained in the same private collection for over fifty years.  Previously only known to modern-day scholars via a black and white photograph, its re-emergence is exciting. Furthermore, the work's delicate watercolour pigments have remained in a particularly fresh and well-preserved state.  

1. P. Noon, op.cit., p. 302, no. 237