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Richard Parkes Bonington (artist) British, 1802 - 1828 The Grand Canal, 1826/1827 oil on canvas Overall: 23 x 33 cm (9 1/16 x 13 in.) framed: 46 x 54.6 x 7.9 cm (18 1/8 x 21 1/2 x 3 1/8 in.) Gift of Roger and Victoria Sant 2001.87.1 Not on View |
During his brief career Richard Bonington painted a variety of subjects, including landscapes, seascapes, and genre and historical scenes. Working primarily in Paris and London, he also regularly made sketching trips elsewhere; in 1826 he spent almost a year in Italy, including a month in Venice. While there Bonington painted many small sketches that he later used in his studio to create finished works such as this exquisite small painting.
Bonington was greatly admired in his own day for his exceptional ability to capture effects of light and atmosphere with unerring assurance. The French painter Eugene Delacroix, an especially devoted admirer, admitted that he never ceased to wonder at Bonington's "marvelous understanding of effects, and the facility of his execution . . . . that lightness of touch which . . . makes his pictures as it were like diamonds that delight the eye." Here the lovely play of light on the building facades, the delicate reflections on the water, and the sweep of the clouds across the sky are clear evidence of what Delacroix so greatly admired.