Regency Portraits Catalogue
Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828), Painter
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
The iconography of Bonington remains highly controversial though attempts have been made to codify it by Henry C. Hall and Sidney Race, both of Nottingham, and by Dr Marian Spencer in a forthcoming book. The list below is a wary approach and by no means conclusive.
c.1814-15
Oval self-portrait as a boy, in Castle Museum, Nottingham. This portrait has usually been accepted as being the young Bonington since its acquisition in 1884 from an art dealer in Paris, and has frequently been exhibited and reproduced. The signature R P Bonington in green paint appears convincing but also resembles that of Bonington's father. The brown eyes agree with the description 'dark and penetrating' but not as painted by Margaret Carpenter who saw them as blue-grey. The portrait has been rejected by Andrew Shirley and Sidney Race but a reasonable appraisal of its authenticity is by Henry C. Hall in The Nottingham Observer, April 1965. David Phillips, Keeper of Fine Art at Nottingham, considers it might well be the work of Bonington's father.
c.1820-5
Watercolour self-portrait (NPG 1729).
c.1820
Sepia drawing formerly in the collection of M de Lajudie of Paris, reproduced Dubuisson & Hughes, Richard Parkes Bonington, 1924, p 90; an etching by Frédéric Villot in the British Museum is inscribed: R P Bonington se ipsum del F. Villot sculp 1847; aquatint by Damour.
c.1825-6
Charcoal drawing by Delacroix formerly in the collection of M Moreau-Nelaton, half-length seated in profile to left drawing in sketchbook (reproduced in Dubuisson & Hughes, Richard Parkes Bonington, 1924, p 90, Gazette des Arts, June 1938, p 303 Beraldi collection, and Yvonne Deslandres, Delacroix, 1963, p 40.
c.1827
Portraits by Margaret Carpenter (NPG 444 and 492).
Posthumous
1829
Pencil drawing by Alexandre Colin in Ashmolean Museum given by T. W. Jackson in 1896; lithograph published in July 1829 with lines from Romeo and Juliet, 'Too like the Lightning which doth cease to be, Ere one can say - It lightens'. Colin was a friend of Bonington and travelled with him and Delacroix on sketching tours but the drawing was probably done from memory. Unfortunately Colin's correspondence has been destroyed.
c.1830
Drawing (or lithograph) by A. Shaw largely based on Margaret Carpenter's chalk drawing, see Henry Hall 'The Elusive Bonington' in Apollo, January 1949; lithograph by Scriven was published in Library of the Fine Arts, 1832. This drawing was probably in Richard Bonington's exhibition of his son's works in the Bonington Gallery Regent Street, February 1834, where a critic in the Magazine of the Fine Arts refers to 'the pensive countenance of Bonington'.
1910
A marble statue by F. W. Pomeroy, exhibited RA 1910 (1697), stands in the Nottingham School of Art.
A number of unauthenticated portraits are often accepted as bona fide.
1 'Self-portrait', oil on panel in Castle Museum Nottingham, ex Evan Charteris collection, reproduced Dubuisson & Hughes, Richard Parkes Bonington, 1924, p 95 and Hall in Apollo, March 1948, fig.II - dubious.
2 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas formerly in the Duke of Alba's collection and reproduced in Connoisseur, CXXII, 1948, p 52 as the subject of an effusive article by Adrian Bury - dubious.
3 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas called 'Bonington and his Grandmother', offered to NPG in 1915 by Francis Clarke, 'signed and dated' 1824 and reproduced Dubuisson & Hughes, Richard Parkes Bonington, 1924, p 93 - almost certainly spurious.
4 'Self-portrait', oil on wood panel from H. C. Hall collection reproduced in Apollo, March 1948, p 65 and Connoisseur Year Book, 1959, p 110 - dubious.
5 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas at an easel, M Gabriel Renand collection and reproduced as frontispiece in Andrew Shirley, R. P. Bonington,1941 without justification, see Paul Oppé's review in Burlington Magazine, September 1941.
6 'Self-portrait' at an easel, unfinished watercolour sketch offered to NPG by David Barclay in 1976, see Hall in Apollo 38, 1943, p 161 and Apollo 47, 1948, p 65 - dubious.
7 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas, half-length with palette and brushes, at Thonock - spurious.
8 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas, half-length with palette and brushes, offered to NPG by Jan Milner in 1977 and again by Roy Miles in 1978, sold Sotheby's 7 July 1982 (36), reproduced in colour - dubious.
9 Oil attributed to Delacroix, three-quarter-length standing by a pony, top-hat in hand, hooked nose, small full-lipped mouth, Christie's 9 July 1954 (59) - dubious.
10 Pastel on paper attributed to Mrs Carpenter, of a young man, of about 1840, formerly in collections of Sir Guy Laking, Xavier Haas, Sir Farquar Buzzard, Dr F. G. Hobson and offered to NPG by Miss Hobson in 1970.
11 Oil on canvas at Christie's 13 March 1911 (63) catalogued as Lawrence School.
12 Oil on canvas attributed to Thomas Phillips in Castle Museum, Nottingham - dubious.
13 Drawing attributed to Ary Scheffer, head only of Bonington on his death-bed, seen in Avignon by Lawrence Binyon and Sir Harry Wilson (photograph in NPG) - not authenticated but possibly right.
14 'The Artist with his Portfolio', copy by R. Bonington (senior) at Sotheby's to February 1938 (110).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.
c.1814-15
Oval self-portrait as a boy, in Castle Museum, Nottingham. This portrait has usually been accepted as being the young Bonington since its acquisition in 1884 from an art dealer in Paris, and has frequently been exhibited and reproduced. The signature R P Bonington in green paint appears convincing but also resembles that of Bonington's father. The brown eyes agree with the description 'dark and penetrating' but not as painted by Margaret Carpenter who saw them as blue-grey. The portrait has been rejected by Andrew Shirley and Sidney Race but a reasonable appraisal of its authenticity is by Henry C. Hall in The Nottingham Observer, April 1965. David Phillips, Keeper of Fine Art at Nottingham, considers it might well be the work of Bonington's father.
c.1820-5
Watercolour self-portrait (NPG 1729).
c.1820
Sepia drawing formerly in the collection of M de Lajudie of Paris, reproduced Dubuisson & Hughes, Richard Parkes Bonington, 1924, p 90; an etching by Frédéric Villot in the British Museum is inscribed: R P Bonington se ipsum del F. Villot sculp 1847; aquatint by Damour.
c.1825-6
Charcoal drawing by Delacroix formerly in the collection of M Moreau-Nelaton, half-length seated in profile to left drawing in sketchbook (reproduced in Dubuisson & Hughes, Richard Parkes Bonington, 1924, p 90, Gazette des Arts, June 1938, p 303 Beraldi collection, and Yvonne Deslandres, Delacroix, 1963, p 40.
c.1827
Portraits by Margaret Carpenter (NPG 444 and 492).
Posthumous
1829
Pencil drawing by Alexandre Colin in Ashmolean Museum given by T. W. Jackson in 1896; lithograph published in July 1829 with lines from Romeo and Juliet, 'Too like the Lightning which doth cease to be, Ere one can say - It lightens'. Colin was a friend of Bonington and travelled with him and Delacroix on sketching tours but the drawing was probably done from memory. Unfortunately Colin's correspondence has been destroyed.
c.1830
Drawing (or lithograph) by A. Shaw largely based on Margaret Carpenter's chalk drawing, see Henry Hall 'The Elusive Bonington' in Apollo, January 1949; lithograph by Scriven was published in Library of the Fine Arts, 1832. This drawing was probably in Richard Bonington's exhibition of his son's works in the Bonington Gallery Regent Street, February 1834, where a critic in the Magazine of the Fine Arts refers to 'the pensive countenance of Bonington'.
1910
A marble statue by F. W. Pomeroy, exhibited RA 1910 (1697), stands in the Nottingham School of Art.
A number of unauthenticated portraits are often accepted as bona fide.
1 'Self-portrait', oil on panel in Castle Museum Nottingham, ex Evan Charteris collection, reproduced Dubuisson & Hughes, Richard Parkes Bonington, 1924, p 95 and Hall in Apollo, March 1948, fig.II - dubious.
2 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas formerly in the Duke of Alba's collection and reproduced in Connoisseur, CXXII, 1948, p 52 as the subject of an effusive article by Adrian Bury - dubious.
3 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas called 'Bonington and his Grandmother', offered to NPG in 1915 by Francis Clarke, 'signed and dated' 1824 and reproduced Dubuisson & Hughes, Richard Parkes Bonington, 1924, p 93 - almost certainly spurious.
4 'Self-portrait', oil on wood panel from H. C. Hall collection reproduced in Apollo, March 1948, p 65 and Connoisseur Year Book, 1959, p 110 - dubious.
5 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas at an easel, M Gabriel Renand collection and reproduced as frontispiece in Andrew Shirley, R. P. Bonington,1941 without justification, see Paul Oppé's review in Burlington Magazine, September 1941.
6 'Self-portrait' at an easel, unfinished watercolour sketch offered to NPG by David Barclay in 1976, see Hall in Apollo 38, 1943, p 161 and Apollo 47, 1948, p 65 - dubious.
7 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas, half-length with palette and brushes, at Thonock - spurious.
8 'Self-portrait', oil on canvas, half-length with palette and brushes, offered to NPG by Jan Milner in 1977 and again by Roy Miles in 1978, sold Sotheby's 7 July 1982 (36), reproduced in colour - dubious.
9 Oil attributed to Delacroix, three-quarter-length standing by a pony, top-hat in hand, hooked nose, small full-lipped mouth, Christie's 9 July 1954 (59) - dubious.
10 Pastel on paper attributed to Mrs Carpenter, of a young man, of about 1840, formerly in collections of Sir Guy Laking, Xavier Haas, Sir Farquar Buzzard, Dr F. G. Hobson and offered to NPG by Miss Hobson in 1970.
11 Oil on canvas at Christie's 13 March 1911 (63) catalogued as Lawrence School.
12 Oil on canvas attributed to Thomas Phillips in Castle Museum, Nottingham - dubious.
13 Drawing attributed to Ary Scheffer, head only of Bonington on his death-bed, seen in Avignon by Lawrence Binyon and Sir Harry Wilson (photograph in NPG) - not authenticated but possibly right.
14 'The Artist with his Portfolio', copy by R. Bonington (senior) at Sotheby's to February 1938 (110).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.