Boats in a Harbor
c. 1824
Medium
Brush and brown wash, over graphite, on cream wove paper laid down on tan wove paper
Dimensions
14.3 × 22.2 cm (5 11/16 × 8 3/4 in.)
Classification
watercolor
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
155215
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Richard Parkes Bonington's *Boats in a Harbor* (c. 1824) captures a serene maritime scene in a delicate watercolor on cream wove paper, enhanced by brown wash over graphite underdrawing. Measuring just 14.3 × 22.2 cm, this intimate study exemplifies Bonington's mastery of light and atmosphere, hallmarks of his brief but brilliant career. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings Department, it reflects the artist's English roots and French influences during his time in Normandy and Paris. Bonington, who died tragically young at 25, bridged Romanticism and emerging plein-air traditions. His fluid washes and subtle graphite lines evoke the shimmering effects of harbor light on boats and water, techniques that influenced later artists like the Impressionists. Working in brown wash—a monochromatic approach—allowed Bonington to focus on tonal values and composition, common in preparatory sketches for larger oils. This piece offers a window into 19th-century coastal life, blending British watercolor precision with French luminosity. Visitors will appreciate its quiet poetry, a testament to Bonington's role in elevating watercolor from mere sketch to fine art.
About the Artist
Richard Parkes Bonington · 1802–1828
Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828) was a British painter and watercolorist who, despite dying at the age of twenty-five, produced a body of work that had a profound and lasting influence on French and British painting. Born in Arnold, near Nottingham, he moved with his family to Calais and then Paris in 1817, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under Antoine-Jean Gros and copied Old Mas...