Richard Parkes Bonington

John Lewis Brown (1829-1890)
By descent to Louise Lewis Brown
Jean Dieterle
By descent to Pierre Dieterle
His sale, Sotheby's London, November 21, 1985, lot 30
Richard L. Feigen, New York
Acquired from the above, 2007

Yale 2010, no. 26

To be included in Dr. Patrick Noon's forthcoming catalogue: Richard Parkes Bonington: The Complete Drawings

 

The sheet has been carefully preserved and presented. The sheet is not laid down but hinged to the present mount in two places along the upper sheet edge. There is some surface dirt overall. There is also a small hole lower right which has been carefully repaired and which is just evident on close inspection and from the catalogue illustration. There are other minor damages to the sheet edges presumably from previous mounting of this work, these have also been carefully restored. For further information on this lot please contact either Mark Griffith-Jones (mark.griffithjones@sothebys.com - 0044207 293 5083), Emmeline Hallmark (emmeline.hallmark@sothebys.com - 0044207 293 5407) or Nancy Bialler (nancy.bialler@sothebys.com - 001 212 606 7222).
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This sheet has been dated to 1824, the year that Bonington conducted a sketching tour of the Normandy coast with Alexandre-Marie Colin (1798-1875). The drawing may relate to Bonington's chalk study of Fisherwomen with Baskets (British Museum) as well as the artist's oil paintings of this date. Indeed similar baskets of fish can be seen in Fisherfolk on the Normandy Coast (Castle Museum, Nottingham) and Fishmarket near Boulogne (Yale Center for British Art, New Haven).