Richard Parkes Bonington

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Richard Parkes Bonington
1801-1828
Three Studies of Women
Graphite on paper.
4 9/16 x 6 1/4 inches (116 x 158 mm)
The Joseph F. McCrindle Collection.
2009.51
Notes: 

Bonington's study of three female figures closely resembles a number of pencil and watercolor drawings from the artist's sketchbooks, which reveal his persistent interest in drawing multiple single-figure studies on a single sheet (most now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, 1824; see Noon 1991, cats. 287-299, pp. 346-353, repr.; some in Private Collection, Sotheby's 10 November 1994, pp. 40-41, cats. 61-64, repr.). The Morgan drawing is presumably from one of Bonington's sketchbooks. Several drawings by Bonington of Swiss girls at Meyrin, near Geneva, dated 1826, also resemble the Morgan drawing in conception, although the girls in "Three Studies of Women" are outfitted in far more cosmopolitan fashion than the village girls in the Swiss drawings (High Museum, Atlanta, Peacock 1980, p. 71, repr.; also British Museum, London, inv. no. 1921-7-14-13, Noon 1991, p. 198, cat. 84, repr.). Bonington frequently traveled between Paris, Northern France, London, Switzerland and Italy in his later years and sketched figures of peasants and other local denizens during his travels, often revealing a fascination with regional dress (Study of French peasants, 1822-3, Peacock 1980, p. 38, repr.; Pointon 2009, Grove Art Online; Noon 1991, p. 198, under cat. 84). Sean Leatherbury, 2009. Works cited: Noon, Patrick, Richard Parkes Bonington, 'On the Pleasure of Painting' (New Haven & London, 1991); Noon, Patrick, Richard Parkes Bonington, the complete paintings (New Haven and London, 2008); Peacock, Carlos, Richard Parkes Bonington (New York, 1980).

Provenance: 
Joseph F. McCrindle, New York (McCrindle collection no. A0119).
Associated names: 

McCrindle, Joseph F., former owner.

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