The Rialto, Venice

c. 1827

In April 1826, Bonington embarked on a tour of northern Italy. For an artist who had already unlocked a fresh conception of luminosity and atmosphere in the watercolor medium, Venice’s fabled light must have been a revelation. The streaks of blue sky carry more gestural verve than in the earlier watercolors made along the English Channel, while dense green pigment (applied to details of costume and market produce) gives a literal meaning to “local color.” The slightly elevated perspective allows an architecturally dense view of the famed stone-arch Rialto Bridge spanning the Grand Canal, while still keeping the focus on the strolling figures.

Medium	watercolor and gouache, with gum arabic, on cream wove paper
Dimensions	Sheet: 7 1/8 x 10 1/2 in. (18.1 x 26.7 cm)
Object Number	2007.8.6
Acquisition	Gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton, 2007
Status	Off View

Image Caption

Richard Parkes Bonington, The Rialto, Venice, c. 1827, watercolor and gouache, with gum arabic, on cream wove paper. Clark Art Institute, gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton, 2007.8.6

Select Bibliography

Noon, Patrick. Richard Parkes Bonington "On the Pleasure of Painting". Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, November 13, 1991-January 19, 1992; Petit Palais, Paris, March 5-May 17, 1992. New Haven: Yale Center for British Art. 1991. Wilton, Andrew. Turner, Girtin and Bonington: A New York Private Collection, Paintings, Watercolours, and Drawings. New York: Privately Published, 2001. Noon, Patrick. Richard Parkes Bonington: The Complete Paintings. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. Clarke, Jay, ed. Landscape, Innovation, and Nostalgia: The Manton Collection of British Art. Williamstown, MA: The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2012.

Provenance

Possibly Lewis Brown, sale, Paris, 17 Apr. 1837, no. 69, sold to Hibbert; George Hibbert, sold to Agnew’s; [Thomas Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London]; J. Knowles (possibly sold to Heugh, 1865); J. Heugh (1865–1878, sale, Christie’s, London, 10 May 1878, no. 4, sold to Agnew’s); [Thomas Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London, in 1878, sold to Hollingsworth]; A. T. Hollingsworth, sale, Christie’s, London, 11 Mar. 1882, no. 53, sold to MacLean; MacLean; H. de Zoete, sale, Christie’s, London, 8 May 1885, no. 7, sold to McLean; McLean (in 1885); E. V. Sturdy, sold to Leggatt, 23 Mar. 1960; [Leggatt Brothers Gallery, Mar.–June 1960, sold to Manton, June 1960]; Sir Edwin A. G. Manton, New York (1960–d. 2005); Manton Family Art Foundation (2005– 2007, given to the Clark); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2007.