Rouen Cathedral 1825
richardparkesbonington
minneapolisinstituteofart
painting, plein-air, watercolor
painting
plein-air
landscape
watercolor
romanticism
cityscape
watercolor
"Rouen Cathedral," painted in 1825 by British artist Richard Parkes Bonington, captures the grandeur of the iconic French landmark. Bonington, known for his romantic landscapes and skillful use of light, depicts the cathedral amidst a hazy atmosphere, emphasizing its towering presence against a soft, ethereal sky. This watercolor painting, housed in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, exemplifies Bonington's mastery of atmospheric perspective, creating a sense of depth and distance. Bonington's portrayal of the cathedral is both evocative and captivating, reflecting the fascination of 19th-century artists with historical architecture and the beauty of the natural world.
Comments
Although Bonington died prematurely at age 25, he was a prolific virtuoso who left his mark on the development of European painting. Connoisseurs have always ranked him with Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix as one of the three pillars of French Romanticism, and with John Constable and J. M. W. Turner as the most influential British landscape painters of the 19th century. Bonington's genius as a painter was so seductive that he attracted a host of admirers and imitators in both France and England. Two of his closest friends were Delacroix and Paul Huet, while Camille Corot admitted to becoming an artist only after seeing examples of Bonington's paintings in an art dealer's shop window. Corot's oil sketch in Rome of 1826 offers an illuminating comparison with Bonington's Rouen sketch of 1825, which is concerned less with the subject depicted than with the art of quickly recording one's impressions of light, color and atmosphere in nature.
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