Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 05.djvu/361

 in founding that illustrious modern school which, commencing with Paul Huet, has produced the genius of Rousseau, and Corot, and Diaz. It must have been about this time that he was engaged to mnke drawings for Baron Taylor's great work, ‘Voyages Pittoresques dans l'anncienne France.' The second volume of the section devoted to Normandy was published in 1825, and contained several fine lithographs after Benington, of which the view of the ‘Rue de Gros-Horloge' is generally considered his masterpiece of the kind. He also contributed to the section on Franche-Comte, and published several ‘Vues de Paris’ et ‘Vues prises en Provenci-,’ working for the lithographers much as Turner did in England for the steel engravers. When in towns he is said to have sketched from a cab, in order to free himself from the curiosity of the vulgar, an expedient adopted also by Turner. A work called ‘Restes et fragments du moyen âge,’ called ‘La petite Normandie' to distinguish it from the larger work of Baron Taylor, contains ten lithographs by Bonington, and he sometimes drew on stone the designs of others, as in Rugendas’ ‘Voyage nu Brésil’ and Pernot's ‘ Vues pittoresques d’Ecosse.’

It was not till 1824 or 1825 that Bonington began to paint in oil colours. In the latter year he went to England with Delacroix, where they studied the Meyrick collection of armour, and on their return to Paris they worked together for a time in Delacroix's studio. It was probably after this, and not in 1822 as has been stated, that Bonington visited Venice and other places in Italy. In 1826 he exhibited for the first time in England, sending two pictures of French coast scenery to the British Institution ; but his name was so little known in his own country, that the 'Literary Gazette’ declared that there was no such person as Bonington, and that the pictures were by Collins. The next year he exhibited at the Salon the first-fruits of his visit to Italy-two grand views of Venice, the Ducal Palace and the Grand Canal, and besides these the celebrated pictures of ‘Francis I and the Queen of Navarre’ and ‘Henry III receiving the Spanish Ambassador,' a ‘View of the Cathedral at Rouen,’ and ‘The Tomb of Omer.' The last, a water-colour. was highly praised in an article in ‘Le Globe’ after the artist’s death, and was destroyed at the sack of the Palais Royal in 1848. To the Royal Academy he sent a French coast scene only, but in 1828 he sent over the most important of his Salon pictures of 1827-the ‘Henry III' and the ‘ Grand Canal ’—to the Royal Acaderny (as well as a coast scene), and to the British Institution the ‘Ducal Palace,' together with the ‘Piazzetta, St. Mark’s,’ which was purchased by Mr. Vernon and is now in the National Gallery.

In 1827 he took a studio in the Rue St. Lazare, where he lived in good style and enjoyed the intimacy of several rich amateurs. In t is year he paid a visit to E land, bearing a letter of introduction to Sir Thomas Lawrence from Mrs. Forster, the daughter of Banks the sculptor, which from diffidence he failed to deliver. In the spring of the next year he brought another from the same lady, and was received as a friend hy the president. It was at this time that he painted his ‘Deux femmes au milieu d’un paysage,' which was engraved for the ‘ Anniversary of 1828. Next year his lust sketch of ‘ The Lute ’ was engraved for the some annual, and his picture of ‘A Turk’ was exhibited at the British Institution. But meanwhile he had died. He had returned to Paris with his fame fully secured, and commissions flowed in upon him; but over-pressure and overwork, combined, it is said, with the effect of imprudent sketching in the sun, brought on brain fever, from which he recovered only to fall into a rapid decline. He came again to London, to consult the celebrated Mr. St. John Long, but lived only a few days after his arrival. He died at the house of Messrs. Dixon & Bamett, 29 Tottenhmn Street, on 23 Sept. 1828, and was buried at St. James's Church, Pentonville. Sir Thomas Lawrence, Howard the academician, Robson the water-colour painter, Pugin the architect, and the Rev. J. T. Judkin attended the funeral. The sale of his drawings at Sotheby’s after his death realised 1,200l. His works exhibited in England were nine in number, four at the Royal Academy, and five (one posthumously) at the British Institution.

In person Bonington was tall and striking, his eyes were dark and penetrating, his eyebrows thick, his forehead square and lofty. His air was thoughtful and inclined to melancholy, and he stooped a little. His disposition was mild, generous, and affectionate.

Notwithstanding his early death Bonington achieved a position among the first artists of his time in France and England, and he is claimed by the schools of both countries. His fame has increased since his death, and whether he is regarded as a painter of coast and street scenes, or of historical genre, he is entitled to high rank both for power and originality. His French coast scenes are remarkable for their fine atmosphere, his views in Venice are bathed in warm and liquid air. He was a refined draughtsman; his touch was light and beautiful, and his 