Richard Parkes Bonington

Estimate

3,000 - 5,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Richard Parkes Bonington
Study after the monument to Sir Francis Vere (d. 1609), Westminster Abbey
The first: pen and brown ink over traces of pencil;
inscribed, verso: after Tomb in Westminster abbey,.Sir aubry [sic] de Vere / R. P. Bonington / S.K. Book; unframed
the second: pencil on prepared paper;
inscribed, lower right: Westminster; unframed

together with another study of the same monument by Alexandre-Marie Colin (1798-1875)

Provenance

The first: with The Alpine Gallery, London, by 1971;
sale, London, Sotheby's, 16 June 1982, lot 569;
the second: sale, London Christie's, 5 March 1974, lot 84 (as by Richard Parkes Bonington)

Exhibited

The first: London, The Alpine Gallery, Exhibition of Early English Watercolour, April 1971, un-numbered

Literature

The first: Reproduced, Burlington Magazine, March 1971, p. IXXXII;
P. Noon, Richard Parkes Bonington, The Complete Drawings, Yale 2011, p. 119, no. 212;
the second: P. Noon, Richard Parkes Bonington, The Complete Drawings, Yale 2011, p. 13, fig. 12

Condition

Richard Parkes Bonington This work has been well preserved. the pen and ink remains strong and the sheet has not discoloured. There are some very occassional foxmarks and some very minor surface dirt. The sheet has not been laid down. It is instead attached to a mount at the extreme edges verso Alexandre-Marie Colin This work has been well preserved and the medium has remained fresh. There is some minor surface dirt visible to the sheet and there is a small repaired tear, located at the extreme left hand edge of the sheet. The work has not been laid down.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Catalogue Note

The present two drawings were executed in July 1825 at Westminster Abbey by Richard Parkes Bonington and Alexandre-Marie Colin. Inspired by the British paintings exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1824, Bonington and Colin travelled to London during the following summer. They were accompanied by, amongst others, Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863), Louis Henri Hippolyte Poterlet (1803-1835) and Augustin Enfantin (1793-1827).

Soon after their arrival in London the group wrote to Richard Westall (1765-1836) enquiring if it might be possible to make drawings within the abbey itself. At that time, Bonington and his fellow artists were particularly interested in historical subjects, and they executed numerous studies of the abbey's medieval and renaissance sculptures.

The present drawings depict one of the four 'mourning' figures that form part of tomb of the Elizabethan soldier and diplomat; Sir Francis Vere (1560-1609). Located in the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist, the tomb is modelled on the tomb of Count Engelbert of Nassau (1451-1504) at Breda in the Netherlands, and is attributed to the master-carver Maximilian Colt (d. 1641).