Property from a Distinguished Private Collection
Richard Parkes Bonington
The Visit to the Shrine
Auction Closed
July 6, 10:38 AM GMT
Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Distinguished Private Collection
Richard Parkes Bonington
Arnold 1801 - 1828 London
The Visit to the Shrine
Watercolour over pencil, heightened with bodycolour and scratching out;
inscribed (not by the artist) verso: Study in the Cathedral / at St. Omer / J. P Bonnington [sic] / 1828
138 by 196 mm
sale, London, Christie's, 24 February 1857, lot 374 (as 'The Shrine with two Pilgrims);
with Palser Gallery, London;
Dr J. Percy (1817-1889) (L.1504), by May 1876,
his sale, London, Christie's, 15-18 April 1890, unknown lot number;
with Agnew's, London;
Philip, 1st Earl of Swinton (1884-1972),
by descent to the present owners
Engraved:
Lithographed by James Duffield Harding
This watercolour dates to circa 1827 and, having last appeared on the market in 1975, its reemergence into the public domain is noteworthy.
The work is a very fine example of the artist's narrative watercolours - a genre that his friend Delacroix had encouraged him to pursue and that interested him greatly during the last years of his short life.
Despite the inscription on the verso which states that the subject is the interior of St Omer Cathedral, Patrick Noon, the distinguished Bonington scholar, is unsure of this and prefers to continue to use the title applied to the work when J.D. Harding made his lithographic copy.
On particular display here is Bonington’s clear command of his medium. With seemingly effortless flicks of his brush, which is sometimes loaded with heavily diluted watercolour, while at other times with almost dry, raw pigment, he masterfully captures light, texture and movement.
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